BS  2695  . C874 
Cowden,  John  B. 

Saint  Paul  on  Christian 
unity 


■J 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/saintpaulonchrisOOcowd 


Saint  Paul  on  Christian  Unity 


SAINT  PAUL 

ON 

CHRISTIAN  UNITY 


An  Exposition  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians 


By/ 

JOHN  B.  COWDEN 

Christian-Unity  Evangelist-Pastor 


Author  of  “  Christian  Worship “  Fellowship?' 
“  In  Furtherance  of  the  Gospel ?'  etc. 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1923,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  75  Princes  Street 


To  my  wife,  Lilian  Smallman  Cowden,  to  whom  I  am 
happily  united  in  marriage,  to  which  conjugal  union  Paul 
compares  the  mysterious  union  of  Christ  and  His  Church, 
for  the  unity  of  which  this  hook  is  written  and  sent  forth. 


w 


/ 


# 

\ 


I 


Contents 


INTRODUCTION 

I.  The  Call  To-day  for  Unity  .  .  .11 

II.  Is  Christian  Unity  Possiele?  ...  20 

III.  Is  Christian  Unity  Practicable  ?  .  .30 

IV.  A  Personal  Foreword  ....  39 

PART  I.— THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 

V.  The  Church  Planned . 4 7 

VI.  The  Head  of  the  Church  ....  52 

VII.  The  Terms  of  Entrance  Into  the 

Church . 57 

VIII.  The  Plan  for  the  Unity  of  the  Church  62 

IX.  The  Dynamic  for  Unity  ....  94 

PART  II.— ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 

X.  Character . 105 

XI.  Doctrine . 116 

XII.  Service . 143 

XIII.  Conduct . 155 

XIV.  Battle . 163 


8 


CONTENTS 


XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 
XVIII. 


CONCLUSION 
Valedictory  Summary 
Christ’s  Glorious  Church 
Liberty  and  Unity  .... 
The  Outlook  for  Christian  Unity  . 


.  175 
.  180 
.  187 
.  200 


INTRODUCTION 


I 


THE  CALL  TO-DAY  FOR  UNITY 

HE  world  is  entering  upon  a  new  era.  We  are 
face-to-face  with  world  tasks  and  problems  that 
call  for  the  united  action  of  all  Christian  nations 
and  churches.  All  the  old  conditions  of  life,  which  have 
been  with  us  from  the  beginning,  and  many  new  condi¬ 
tions  that  arise  out  of  the  life  of  to-day  call  us  to  unity 
that  we  may  save  the  world  and  ourselves.  Through  the 
many  rapid  modern  means  of  communication  and  trans¬ 
portation  the  world  to-day  has  been  brought  close  to¬ 
gether,  and  is  being  made  one  as  never  before.  As  God 

* 

formerly  “  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  to  dwell  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,”  He  is  to-day  bringing  these  nations 
back  together  and  making  them  one  by  bringing  them 
into  close  touch  and  contact  with  each  other  through  the 
telegraph,  the  telephone,  air-messages,  the  rapid  trains 
and  steamships,  automobiles  and  aeroplanes,  etc.  National 
seclusion  is,  therefore,  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  time  has 
come  when  no  nation  nor  person  “  liveth  unto  himself.” 
Every  nation  has  awakened  to  find  itself  in  daily  contact 
with  every  other  nation  of  the  earth,  and  each  individual 
has  thereby  been  brought  into  conscious  touch  with  all 
the  people  of  the  world.  The  world  and  the  people 
thereon  are  materially  one  to-day  as  never  before;  and 
this  physical  unity  calls  for  a  corresponding  spiritual 
unity  in  both  state  and  church. 

Accordingly,  men  in  all  the  relationships  and  interests 
of  life  are  awakening  to  this  need  of  unity.  Business 
men  are  to-day  thinking  and  planning  in  world  terms 

11 


12 


INTRODUCTION 


for  their  business.  They  are  buying  from  and  selling 
to  the  world ;  and  no  man  that  does  not  take  the  world 
into  his  business  can  succeed  to-day.  All  the  professions 
to-day  are  operating  in  and  for  the  world  instead  of  a 
local  community  as  of  old.  The  lawyer  deals  with  the 
world  to-day,  and  therefore  needs  a  knowledge  of  inter¬ 
national  law  as  never  before.  The  doctor  to-day  has 
access  to  the  medical  and  surgical  clinics  of  the  world, 
and  dares  not  practice  his  profession  without  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  same.  The  teacher  goes  to  a  world  school, 
and  has  access  to  all  the  knowledge  of  the  world  that  he 
may  be  prepared  to  teach  the  youth  of  this  new  world. 
In  fact,  all  are  fast  becoming  cosmopolitans. 

The  Christian  has  been  a  cosmopolitan  from  the  begin¬ 
ning.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era,  “  there  were  gathered  together  devout 
men  from  every  nation  under  heaven;”  and  of  this  cos¬ 
mopolitan  multitude  the  first  Christians  were  made. 
These  people  came  to  Jerusalem  seclusive  nationalists,  but 
went  away  altruistic  cosmopolitans.  They  were  made  to 
see  the  world  and  its  needs,  and  were  sent  away  with 
this  world  commission  in  their  hearts,  namely,  “  Ye  shall 
be  my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judaea  and 
Samaria  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.”  The 
task  of  this  commission  called  for  the  united  effort  of  all 
disciples,  and  all  responded  to  the  call ;  and  through  this 
unity  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  first  Christians  the 
Gospel  was  preached  to  the  whole  world  by  the  Apostolic 
church.  Thus  through  unity  the  early  church,  in  spite  of 
the  many  crushing,  withering  persecutions  that  came 
upon  it,  grew  rapidly,  and  spread  throughout  the  known 
world.  But  during  the  fourth  century  the  church  was 
greatly  hindered  by  the  contention  and  conflict  over  the 
question  of  church  government,  and  finally  divided  into 


THE  CALL  TO-DAY  FOR  UNITY 


13 


two  parties,  the  Episcopal  and  the  Presbyterian,  and  has 
continued  to  divide  from  that  day  to  this  over  matters  of 
more  or  less  importance,  until  to-day  there  are  more  than 
two  hundred  distinct  religious  bodies  in  Christendom. 
But  the  time  has  come  for  the  gathering  together  and  re¬ 
storing  of  all  these  divided  parts  of  the  Church  into  the 
original  body  of  Christ.  This  is  the  call  of  God  to-day 
to  all  Christians  in  all  the  churches. 

It  is  useless  to  review  these  divisions  in  the  church  with 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  blame  and  responsibility 
for  the  same;  even  the  apologists  for  division  have  been 
unable  to  clear  entirely  the  skirts  of  their  respective  par¬ 
ties,  so  there  must  be  blame  on  all  sides ;  at  any  rate 
the  task  of  the  church  to-day  is  not  to  censure  but  to 
restore;  and  to  this  end  this  book  is  directed  and  dedi¬ 
cated. 

Accordingly,  we  pass  by  the  history  of  the  divisions 
without  even  mentioning  them,  and  return  at  once  to  the 
original  body  of  Christ  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament 
that  we  may  the  better  hear  and  heed  the  call  for  unity 
to-day.  We  find  that  even  the  Apostolic  church  was 
threatened  with  division,  as  is  evident  from  these  words 
of  the  Apostle  Paul  to  the  church  at  Corinth : 

“  Now  I  beseech  you.  brethren,  through  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  that  there  be  no 
divisions  among  you ;  but  that  ye  be  perfected  together  in  the 
same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment.  For  it  hath  been  signified 
unto  me  concerning  you.  my  brethren,  by  them  that  are  of  the 
household  of  Cloe,  that  there  are  contentions  among  you.  Now 
this,  I  mean,  that  each  one  of  you  sayeth.  I  am  of  Paul ;  and  I 
of  Apollos ;  and  I  of  Cephas:  and  I  of  Christ.  Is  Christ  divided? 
was  Paul  crucified  for  you?  or  were  ye  baptized  into  the  name 
of  Paul?”  I  Cor.  1:10-13. 

The  above  is  Paul’s  call  to  the  church  of  his  day  for 
unity,  warning  them  against  division.  You  will  note 
from  the  absurd  questions  that  he  asks  that  he  bases  his 


14 


INTRODUCTION 


appeal  for  unity  upon  the  absurdity  of  divisions.  Division 
in  the  church  is  indeed  absurd,  irrational,  if  not  insane. 
The  keeper  of  an  insane  asylum  on  being  asked,  “  Are 
you  not  afraid  that  these  insane  people  will  unite  some 
time,  and  hurt  you  and  the  other  attendants  ?  ”,  replied, 
“  No.  Crazy  people  never  unite  on  anything.”  We  can 
unite  on  everything  except  religion,  but  on  this  we  have 
acted  as  insane  people  according  to  Paul.  Paul  further¬ 
more  shows  that  division  is  sinful,  declaring  it  to  be 
“  carnal,”  and  classes  it  with  such  unspeakable  sins  of 
the  flesh  as  “  fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idol¬ 
atry,  sorcery,  enmities,  strife,  jealousies,  wraths,  factions, 
divisions,  parties,  envyings,  drunkenness,  revellings  and 
such  like ;  of  which  I  forewarn  you,  even  as  I  did  forewarn 
you  that  they  who  practice  such  things  shall  not  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  God.”  We  need  to  see  the  exceeding 
sinfulness  of  divisions,  because  in  this  conviction  there 
is  a  strong  appeal  for  unity.  But, 

“Vice  is  a  monster  of  such  frightful  mien 
As  to  be  hated  needs  but  to  be  seen; 

But  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  his  face, 

We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace.” 

Division  has  been  with  us  so  long;  and  we  have  become 
so  accustomed  to  the  same,  that  it  is  hard  for  us  to  realize 
the  sinfulness  of  it.  In  fact,  some  have  reached  the  stage 
of  embracing  it  and  declaring  it  to  be  of  God ;  but  God 
is  not  the  author  of  sin.  Division  is  “  a  work  of  the 
flesh,”  says  Paul,  through  which  Satan  operates  to  defeat 
the  cause  of  God  in  the  earth ;  and  it  is  Satan’s  strongest 
ally  in  weakening  and  defeating  the  church.  So  then, 
the  call  for  unity  in  the  church  is  virtually  the  call  of 
God  against  Satan  in  the  world. 

Furthermore,  God  calls  us  to  unity  not  only  through 
the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  as  shown  above,  but 


THE  CALL  TO-DAY  FOR  UNITY 


15 


through  many  modern  conditions  that  speak  to  us  like 
“  burning  bushes  ”  along  our  pathway,  calling  us  to  unity 
and  warning  us  against  division.  In  the  first  place,  there 
is  the  high  cost  and  stupendous  waste  of  division  that 
urges  unity.  After  our  riot  of  spending  and  wasting 
during  the  war  economy  is  the  watchword  to-day;  and 
the  unity  of  the  church  offers  the  greatest  field  for  econ¬ 
omy.  In  almost  every  small  community  there  are  from 
five  to  seven  churches,  where  there  should  be  only  one ; 
and  by  unity  the  saving  in  buildings,  money  and  men 
would  evangelize  the  world  for  Christ  in  a  short  time. 
Estimate  this  saving  in  one  community,  and  then  multi¬ 
ply  it  by  the  vast  number  of  such  communities,  and  you 
have  one  of  the  greatest  problems  in  economy  of  which 
the  mind  can  conceive. 

'  Also  the  world’s  great  need  and  the  great  tasks  grow¬ 
ing  out  of  these  needs  call  for  unity.  The  world  was 
never  in  greater  need  than  to-day,  in  need  of  food  and 
clothing,  made  destitute  by  the  world  war,  and  in  need 
of  the  Gospel,  the  greatest  need  of  all,  out  of  which  have 
sprung  all  of  its  other  needs.  In  view  of  the  greatness 
and  the  urgency  of  the  world’s  need  to-day,  and  the  great¬ 
ness  of  the  task  to  supply  this  need,  the  church  must 
unite,  or  fail  in  its  mission  to  the  world.  The  supplying 
of  the  world’s  temporal  and  spiritual  needs  to-day  is  too 
big  a  task  for  a  divided  church,  just  as  it  was  too  big  a 
task  during  the  great  world  war.  When  that  great,  world¬ 
wide  conflagration  of  suffering  and  death  broke  out  in 
the  world,  men  and  women  turned  to  the  church,  saying: 
“  Where  is  the  church  ?  Can  not  the  church  prevent  this 
awful  war  ?  ”  And  some  began  to  ask :  “  Has  the  church 
failed?”  Yes,  the  church  did  fail — failed  because  of  its 
division.  A  united  church  could  doubtless  have  pre¬ 
vented  this  war.  Furthermore,  as  the  war  progressed, 


16 


INTRODUCTION 


with  its  awful  suffering  and  untold  deaths,  suffering  and 
dying  humanity  again  turned  to  the  church,  saying : 
“  Can’t  you  feed  us  ?  Can’t  you  bind  up  our  wounds  ? 
Can’t  you  pour  in  the  oil  of  consolation  and  salvation  in 

i 

the  hour  of  our  death  ?  ”  And  again,  on  account  of  divi¬ 
sion,  the  church  had  to  sit  helpless  and  unable  to  respond 
to  this  world  call,  while  such  institutions  as  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  the  Red  Cross,  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  the  Sal¬ 
vation  Army,  etc.,  did  this  work  that  the  church  of  Christ 
was  organized  to  do.  If  tears  were  ever  shed  in 
heaven,  undoubtedly  they  were  shed  then,  when  Jesus 
Christ  looked  down  upon  this  starving,  bleeding,  dying 
world  crying  for  help,  and  His  church,  weakened  and 
incapacitated  through  division,  unable  to  respond  to  these 
needs.  But  you  say :  “  The  above  institutions  that  did 

this  work  are  Christian  institutions.”  That  is  true ;  but 
they  are  not  the  church,  and  the  church  as  an  institution 
had  to  sit  idly  by,  while  the  world  suffered  and  died,  be¬ 
cause  it  was  too  big  a  task  for  a  divided  church.  While 
the  war  has  passed,  the  need  for  a  united  church  is  no 
less  now  than  during  the  war,  because  the  church  to-day 
is  confronted  by  other  world  tasks  and  problems  that  are 
too  big  for  a  divided  church.  The  war  brought  the 
nations  of  the  earth  together  in  a  common  cause,  and 
bound  their  welfare  and  destiny  together  in  such  a  way 
that  the  world  to-day  is  one,  and  the  tasks  and  problems 
that  confront  us  to-day  are  world  problems  and  tasks. 
National  seclusiveness  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  Nothing 
short  of  a  united  League  of  Nations  can  meet  and  solve 
the  governmental  problems  and  tasks  of  the  future,  and 
nothing  short  of  a  united  church  can  meet  and  solve  the 
religious  problems  and  tasks  of  the  future. 

Another  condition  that  calls  all  Christians  to  unity 
to-day  is  the  prevalence  of  sin  and  the  dominance  of 


THE  CALL  TO-DAY  FOE  UNITY 


n 


Satan  in  modern  life.  We  are  not  living  m  the  wickedest 
age  in  the  history  of  the  world,  not  so  wicked  as  the 
Apostolic  age  (see  Rom.  1-2)  ;  yet  sin  is  still  with  us,  and 
Satan  still  commands  the  mighty  “  spiritual  hosts  of 
wickedness.”  In  fact,  some  sins  seem  to  be  on  the  in¬ 
crease.  Greed,  selfishness,  is  rampant  in  the  world  to¬ 
day.  A  more  grasping,  profiteering,  avaricious  people 
never  lived  in  the  world.  No  people  ever  had  more  or 
wanted  more,  and  all  of  it  hoarded  for  and  spent  upon 
self.  We  are  fast  becoming  Babylonians  of  the  most 
profligate  type.  Also  we  are  headed  toward  Sodom.  The 
social  sins  are  shockingly  and  alarmingly  prevalent  in 
modern  life.  Lust  like  a  consuming  flame  is  burning  out 
both  the  physical  and  spiritual  vitals  of  the  race  to-day. 
Other  sins  also  are  eating  out  the  body  and  soul  of  men 
,  and  women ;  and  Satan  is  still  enthroned  in  high  places, 
leading  a  deluded,  sin-ladened  people  to  death  and  de¬ 
struction.  And  the  only  way  to  check  this  wave  of  sin 
and  put  sin  out  of  modern  life  is  to  unite  all  Christian 
forces  against  the  same.  The  saloon  was  put  out  thus, 
and  so  can  every  other  sinful  agency  and  enemy  of 
righteousness.  Unless  the  Christian  people  unite,  and 
take  their  stand  against  sin  and  Satan,  modern  social  life 
is  doomed.  The  call  to  unity  is  therefore  the  call  of 
righteousness  that  every  lover  of  righteousness  must  hear 
and  heed. 

Again,  the  safety  of  our  homes  and  country  call  us  to 
unity.  We  are  beset  with  perils  upon  every  hand.  Red 
revolution  is  abroad  in  the  land,  undermining  and  de¬ 
stroying  all  that  we  hold  dear.  The  people  of  the  United 
States  have  been  rocked  so  long  in  the  cradle  of  liberty 
and  safety  that  we  did  not  realize  before  the  war  that 
dangers  are  possible ;  but  we  awoke  to  find  that  we  had 
been  nursing  in  our  very  bosom  the  unspeakable  Trotzky. 


18 


INTRODUCTION 


This  led  to  an  American  roll-call,  which  showed  that  we 
had  over  eleven  millions  of  people  in  this  country  that 
could  not  speak  the  English  language,  nor  cared  nothing 
for  American  ideals  and  standards.  These  revolutionary 
propagandists  are  still  working  for  the  destruction  of 
modern  civilization;  and  the  safety  of  our  homes  and 
country  call  all  that  cherish  the  ideals  of  church  and  state 
to  unite  against  them.  The  sacred  hearthstone  and  the 
precious  flag  call  us  to  unite  in  their  defense. 

Furthermore,  a  losing,  decreasing  church  calls  us  to 
unity.  In  recent  years  every  church  has  lost  ground. 
While  there  has  been  a  partial  recovery  during  the  last 
two  years,  there  is  still  a  large  shortage  of  members  and 
congregations  and  an  alarming  shortage  of  ministers. 
The  Literary  Digest,  after  investigation,  recently  stated 
that  there  would  be  a  shortage  of  ten  thousand  ministers 
in  the  Protestant  churches  next  year  with  no  students  in 
the  colleges  to  take  the  places.  One  has  only  to  go  into 
the  country  and  small  towns  to  see  numberless  examples 
of  dying  churches,  dying  because  of  divisions,  for,  if 
the  churches  of  the  community  were  united,  the  church 
could  be  supported,  and  would  grow  and  prosper.  The 
rural  churches  will  have  either  to  unite  or  quit.  So, 
therefore,  the  call  to  unity  in  many  places  is  the  call  of 
life  or  death  for  the  church. 

Lastly,  the  Lord’s  unanswered  prayer  for  the  unity  of 
all  His  disciples  calls  us  into  the  unity  of  Himself  and 
the  Father;  and  surely  no  one  can  be  indifferent  to  this 
prayer.  John  17:20-21.  A  mother,  who  wished  to  re¬ 
claim  her  fallen  daughter,  and  had  tried  every  means 
with  no  effect,  finally  decided  on  this:  She  had  her 
photograph  made,  with  these  words  underneath,  “  Mother 
is  praying  that  you  will  come  home,”  and  had  them 
placed  in  places  where  the  girl  would  likely  see  one; 


THE  CALL  TO-DAY  FOR  UNITY 


19 


and  she  did,  and  came  home.  The  mother’s  prayer  was 
the  only  influence  able  to  bring  her  back.  Likewise,  no 
doubt  the  only  strong  influence  that  will  ever  bring  the 
followers  of  Jesus  Christ  together,  and  keep  them  to¬ 
gether,  is  the  prayer  of  our  Lord  for  our  unity.  The 
fact  that  He  is  praying  for  our  unity  ought  to  soften  the 
hearts  of  the  most  alienated,  and  bring  all  together. 
Surely,  no  one  can  be  indifferent  to  His  prayer  for  our 
unity. 

In  conclusion,  when  we  consider  the  many  pressing 
conditions  to-day  that  call  for  the  unity  of  all  God’s  peo¬ 
ple,  the  problem  of  unity  can  not  be  put  aside  or  shelved, 
but  demands  a  solution  at  the  hands  of  the  Christians  of 
this  generation.  At  the  last  National  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  Atlanta  the  Ccm- 
.  mission  on  Unity  with  the  Northern  Methodist  reported 
that  they  were  unable  to  unite.  The  Conference  ap¬ 
pointed  the  same  committee,  and  sent  them  back  with 
this  instruction,  “  You  must  unite,”  and  in  doing  so  they 
sounded  the  keynote  of  this  age,  “  We  must  unite.” 
Whatever  obstacles  are  in  the  way  they  must  be  re¬ 
moved,  that  the  children  of  God  the  world  over  may 
unite  hands  and  hearts  for  God  and  righteousness,  for 
Christ  and  His  church ;  and  to  this  end  this  book  is  writ¬ 
ten  and  sent  forth. 


II 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  POSSIBLE? 

THE  question  that  is  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  the 
Church  to-day  is  not,  “  Is  Christian  Unity  Desir¬ 
able  ?  ”  but,  “  Is  it  Possible  ?  ”  All  have  become 
convinced  that  it  is  desirable,  “  a  consummation  devoutly 
to  be  wished,”  if  possible.  The  churches  have  at  last 
realized  the  evils  of  division,  and  are  seeking  the  way  to 
unity.  The  denominations,  which  a  few  years  ago  were 
the  pride  and  glory  of  Christians,  have  few  apologists  to¬ 
day,  while  many  eloquent  tongues  and  pens  in  every 
denomination  are  pleading  for  unity  with  all  God’s  peo¬ 
ple,  and  the  whole  church  seems  to  be  possessed  with  a 
passion  to  return  to  “  the  one  flock  and  one  shepherd.” 
This  widespread  desire  for  unity  has  found  its  way  even 
into  the  seclusive  and  exclusive  Roman  Church,  which  for 
centuries  has  dwelt  behind  its  high  “  walls  of  partition 
but  to-day  there  has  arisen  the  Modernist  Movement  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  that  seems  to  be  trying  to  find  its 
way  into  the  great  common  fold  of  Christ.  Of  this  move¬ 
ment  Abbe  Houtin  says :  “  O  sons  and  heritors  of  the 

Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  you  see  beginning 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  condemned  your  fathers 
without  listening  to  them — you  see  beginning  a  religious 
struggle  more  far-reaching  than  that  of  Luther  and  Cal¬ 
vin.”  The  Roman  Catholic  scholar,  Mehler,  a  Modern¬ 
ist,  says:  “Both  communions  [Protestant  and  Catholic] 
should  stretch  out  a  friendly  hand  to  one  another  in  the 

consciousness  of  a  common  guilt.  This  open  confession 

20 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  POSSIBLE? 


21 


of  guilt  on  both  sides  will  be  followed  by  the  festival  of 
reconciliation.”  On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of 
Christian  unity  in  the  Protestant  churches  are  too  numer¬ 
ous  to  quote  or  mention.  The  desire  for  Christian  unity  is 
so  far  spread  to-day  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to 
spend  time  in  showing  that  unity  is  the  desirable  thing. 
This  has  been  the  chief  objective  of  the  preaching  and 
writing  on  Christian  unity  in  the  past ;  but  this  is  very 
largely,  if  not  altogether,  conceded  to-day.  Whatever 
was  lacking  to  convince  all  of  the  desirableness  of  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  has  been  supplied  by  the  great  World  War, 
which  clearly  demonstrated  both  the  weakness  and  sinful¬ 
ness  of  divisions,  and  the  strength  and  efficiency  of  unity. 
This  almost  unanimous  desire  for  unity  is  the  first  pre¬ 
essential  to  Christian  unitv,  because  the  desire  is  the 
father  of  the  deed.  Only  people  that  greatly  desire  to 
unite  can  unite. 

While  the  desire  to  unite  is  the  first  essential  step 
toward  unity,  it  takes  more  than  the  desire  to  unite  peo¬ 
ple.  “  If  wishes  were  horses,  beggars  would  ride,”  is 
true  in  all  the  relationships  of  life.  In  all  things  that  we 
undertake  to  do,  being  human,  we  have  to  reckon  with 
the  possible  and  the  impossible ;  and  with  respect  to  the 
attempt  to  unite  the  religious  world  many  look  upon  it 
as  impossible,  a  hopeless  undertaking.  There  is  no 
denial  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  great  undertaking,  so  great 
in  fact  that  it  seems  to  be  beyond  human  power.  It  in¬ 
volves  great  and  difficult  problems,  and  presents  impas¬ 
sable  barriers  and  obstacles.  Any  one  that  does  not  see 
these  great  difficulties  is  a  blind  optimist.  Every  one  that 
has  observed  and  thought  over  the  divided  state  of  Chris¬ 
tendom  realizes  the  greatness  of  the  task  to  unite  the 
church ;  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  look  upon  it  as  an  impos¬ 
sible  task.  Christ  prayed  that  His  disciples  might  be  one, 


22 


INTRODUCTION 


and  He  never  prayed  for  impossibilities.  He  also  stated 
that  it  shall  be.  “  There  shall  be  one  flock  and  one 
shepherd.”  In  fact,  Christian  unity  existed  in  the  early 
church  for  nearly  four  hundred  years,  so  it  is  no  religious 
Utopian  dream,  but  a  historical  reality  that  continued  in 
the  Apostolic  church  for  centuries,  and  is,  therefore,  a 
possibility  in  the  church  to-day. 

Furthermore,  Paul  says,  “  I  can  do  all  things  through 
him  that  strengthened!  me.”  What  people  can  do  de¬ 
pends  largely  on  the  impelling  motive  behind  the  deed. 
With  a  sufficient  motive,  Christian  unity  is  not  only  pos¬ 
sible,  but  highly  probable.  The  strongest  motive  power 
of  which  men  and  women  are  capable,  says  Paul,  is  love, 
which  he  sets  forth  as  the  only  influence  sufficient  to 
effect  and  maintain  Christian  unity.  “  Who  shall  sepa¬ 
rate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ?  Shall  tribulation,  or 
anguish,  or  persecution,  or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril, 
or  sword?  Even  as  it  is  written, 

•f 

For  thy  sake  we  are  killed  all  the  day  long; 

We  are  counted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter. 

Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors 
through  him  that  loved  us.  For  I  am  persuaded  that 
neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor 
things  present,  nor  thinge  to  come,  nor  powers,  nor  height, 
nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  sepa¬ 
rate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord.”  Paul  asks  the  question,  “  Who  shall  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  Christ?  ”,  and  then  answers  it  by  affirm¬ 
ing  that  absolutely  nothing  can  break  this  tie  in  Christ. 
He  mentions  some  of  the  greatest  alienating  causes,  such 
as  tribulation,  anguish,  persecution,  famine,  nakedness, 
peril,  and  sword,  so,  if  none  of  these  terrible  experiences 
can  alienate  us  from  Christ,  then  there  is  nothing  that 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  POSSIBLE? 


23 


can.  We,  therefore,  have  a  tie  in  Christ  that  binds  in 
spite  of  all  the  alienating  causes,  and  makes  Christian 
unity  possible. 

Note,  furthermore,  that  this  tie  not  only  binds,  but  it 
triumphs.  “  We  are  more  than  conquerors  through  him 
that  loved  us.”  We  are  victorious  in  spite  of  all  difficul¬ 
ties  that  may  arise  in  life  or  death,  from  principalities  and 
powers  in  high  places  or  low,  or  from  any  creature  what¬ 
soever.  We,  therefore,  have  a  tie  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord  that  binds  and  triumphs  in  spite  of  all  the  alienat¬ 
ing  causes  and  defeating  difficulties  that  beset  the  pil¬ 
grimage  of  Christian  life. 

Love  is  the  only  motive  power  that  can  bind  and 
triumph  over  all  opposition  in  this  life.  There  are  other 
motive  powers  that  can  bind  and  triumph  for  awhile.  For 
instance,  hatred,  the  opposite  of  love,  can  bind  people 
together  for  awhile,  and  lead  them  to  victory  over  some 
difficulties,  as  it  did  in  the  case  of  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
who  were  bound  together  by  a  common  hatred,  and 
were  led  by  the  same  to  the  victory  of  His  death ;  but 
they  did  not  remain  together  long,  but  soon  parted,  and 
the  cause  of  Christ  triumphed  over  them.  Hope  also  is  a 
strong  motive  power  in  one’s  life,  and  those  that  are  led 
on  by  the  bright  star  of  hope  accomplish  great  victories ; 
but  hope  is  not  invincible.  “  Hope  deferred  maketh  the 
heart  sick  ”■ — is  easily  discouraged  and  gives  up  the  fight. 
Also,  the  human  will  is  a  great  motive  power,  so  great 
that  there  are  few  limitations  on  what  those  that  say, 
“  I  can  and  will but  even  the  human  will  is  not 
invincible.  Mr.  Henley  was  mistaken  when  he  said :  “  I 
thank  God  for  my  unconquerable  soul.”  The  human  soul 
is  not  invincible.  There  are  roads  too  rough  and  moun¬ 
tains  too  high  to  be  traveled  and  scaled  by  the  human 
will,  and  there  are  burdens  too  heavy  to  be  borne  by  the 


24 


INTRODUCTION 


human  will;  such  burdens  as  poor,  frail,  delicate  women 
are  carrying  to-day — loads  that  would  crush  the  will  of 
the  strongest  man  in  the  world.  The  only  reason  that 
any  one  can  carry  such  a  burden  is  that  love  is  under¬ 
neath  the  load.  Love  can  carry  any  burden,  and  endure 
any  hardship.  In  other  words,  love  alone  is  invincible ; 
and  this  is  what  Paul  meant  when  he  said:  “We  are 
more  than  conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us.” 

But  has  not  Paul  in  his  zeal  overstated  the  power  of 
love?  Not  so,  when  we  take  into  consideration  Paul’s 
conception  of  love.  Love,  to  Paul,  is  the  vital  central 
motive  power  that  controls  and  regulates  the  whole  social 
and  spiritual  world.  Love  is  to  the  spiritual  universe 
what  the  force  of  gravity  is  to  the  physical  universe. 
When  God  created  the  universe,  He  created  and  set  in 
operation  the  law  of  gravity  that  wTas  to  control  and 
regulate  everything  in  the  universe ;  and  through  the 
operation  of  this  great  law  of  matter  everything  is  held 
in  position,  and  moves  on  in  such  perfect  unison  and 
harmony  that,  listening,  you  can  almost  hear  the  music 
of  the  spheres.  However,  there  come  times — times  of 
storm — when  it  seems  that  the  world  is  about  to  go  to 
pieces;  but  you  know  that  down  beneath  the  storm  is  a 
mightier  power  than  the  storm,  the  power  of  gravity, 
which  you  can  trust  to  hold  the  world  together ;  and  so  it 
has  been  with  all  the  storms  that  have  assailed  the  earth. 
The  storm  in  all  its  fury  passed;  and,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  a  rent  here  and  a  gash  there,  the  old  world  was 
left  the  same.  Just  so  there  come  storms  in  the  social 
and  spiritual  world  that  threaten  and  disturb  the  safety 
and  peace  of  the  world  for  the  time,  and  at  times  it  looks 
as  if  everything  is  going  to  pieces.  Especially  was  this 
the  case  in  the  last  war,  which  was  the  greatest  social 
storm  that  this  world  has  ever  seen;  but  we  have  seen 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  POSSIBLE? 


25 


it  pass,  and  the  old  world  is  left  largely  the  same  as  it 
was.  God  is  -still  at  the  center  of  things,  and  His  love, 
a  great  attractive  force,  permeates  the  whole  social  uni¬ 
verse,  and  holds  things  together,  and  will  continue  to  do 
so  even  to  the  end.  Wherefore  Paul  says,  “We  are  more 
than  conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us which  is  no 
exaggerated  statement  of  the  power  of  love,  but  the 
simple  truth  that  underlies  the  whole  social  and  spiritual 
world;  and  through  this  love  as  the  motive  power,  and 
through  it  alone,  Christians  can  and  will  unite. 

Yes,  they  can  unite,  but  will  they?  In  view  of  their 
great  differences  and  strong  feelings,  will  they  be  willing 
to  lay  these  aside  and  let  love  have  its  way?  If  they 
have  the  love  of  which  Paul  speaks  above,  they  will,  and 
it  matters  not  how  great  the  differences  ^nd  how  bitter 
the  feelings.  One  illustration  will  suffice  to  show  this. 
A  husband  and  wife  became  alienated,  and  separated ;  a 
third  party  undertook  to  reunite  them.  He  talked  to  the 
man  first,  and  he  thought  that  he  never  heard  a  man 
say  uglier,  meaner  things  about  any  woman  than  the  hus¬ 
band  said  about  his  wife.  He  talked  with  the  wife  next 
and  then  he  decided  that  the  man  had  not  said  anything 
about  his  wife.  Well,  he  concluded,  of  course,  that  it 
was  useless  to  try  further  to  get  these  people  together. 
They  were  too  far  apart,  and  their  feelings  toward  each 
other  were  too  bitter  and  intense.  But  they  were  united, 
and  how?  They  had  a  little  child;  and  this  little  child 
came  over  to  the  father,  and,  taking  him  by  the  hand, 
led  him  over  to  the  mother ;  and  they  fell  on  each  other’s 
necks,  and  wept,  and  were  united  again.  They  had  a 
common  love ;  they  both  loved  that  little  child ;  and  this 
common  love  brought  them  together  and  kept  them  to¬ 
gether.  Christians  have  a  common  love ;  they  all  love 
Jesus  Christ;  and  Paul  says  that  this  tie  binds  in  spite 


26 


INTRODUCTION 


of  all  alienating  causes  and  difficulties.  If  Christians 
would  only  let  Christ  bring  them  together,  where  they 
could  see  the  nail-prints  in  His  hands  and  the  sword- 
thrust  in  His  side,  they  could,  and  would  cdme  together 
and  unite.  “  Nothing,”  says  Paul,  “  shall  be  able  to 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord.” 

Note,  next,  to  what  this  tie  unites  us.  In  the  first  place, 
it  unites  us  to  God ;  and  what  a  blessed  thing  it  is  to  be 
united  to  God !  In  the  second  place,  it  unites  us  to  each 
other.  Paul  says  that  nothing  shall  be  able  to  separate 
us  ”  not  me,  from  the  love  of  God.  The  Christian  tie 
is  not  an  individual  tie,  but  a  fraternal  tie.  It  is  a  tie  that 
binds  Christians  together,  and  thus  united  they  are  united 
to  God.  No  Christian  can  separate  himself  from  his 
brethren,  and  claim  an  individual  tie  with  God.  “  For 
he  that  loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  can 
not  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen.”  Love  is  the  only 
influence  in  the  world  that  can  bring  people  together  and 
keep  them  together.  Love  is  the  only  tie  that  can  keep 
a  home  together,  and  it  is  the  only  tie  that  can  keep  a 
church  together.  Many  Christians  have  trusted  a  com¬ 
mon  faith  to  keep  them  together.  They  believed  the  same 
things,  and  they  trusted  this  tie  to  keep  them  together 
in  the  bond  of  peace;  but  it  failed.  A  common  faith, 
however  strong,  can  not  maintain  the  bond  of  Christian 
brotherhood.  Only  a  common  love  can  do  this.  The 
strong  heat  of  a  fervent  common  love  is  the  only  influ¬ 
ence  that  can  melt  and  unite  human  hearts  in  a  lasting 
bond  of  Christian  unity;  but  this  can,  and  will,  unite  all 
Christians  that  allow  the  love  of  God  to  have  its  way 
in  their  hearts  and  over  their  lives. 

The  Christian  tie  of  love  not  only  binds  Christians  to¬ 
gether  in  spite  of  all  alienating  causes,  but  it  also  leads 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  POSSIBLE? 


27 


Christians,  thus  bound  together  or  united,  to  victory  in 
spite  of  all  the  obstacles  in  the  way, — “  We  are  more 
than  conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us,”  says  Paul. 
There  is  strength  in  unity,  whatever  may  be  the  tie  that 
binds  together;  but,  when  people  are  united  by  the  bond 
of  Christian  love,  Paul  says  they  are  invincible.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Paul,  love  makes  Christian  unity  possible;  and 
Christian  unity  makes  all  things  possible.  When  people 
are  united  in  Christ  through  love,  they  can  triumph  over 
all  difficulties  and  opposition.  But  was  not  Paul  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  problems  and  difficulties  of  his  day?  Yes. 
But  our  problems  and  difficulties  in  the  church  to-day 
are  no  greater  than  those  of  Paul’s  day.  It  is  true  that 
the  church  to-day  has  some  great  problems  to  solve  and 
some  great  tasks  to  perform, — some  that  have  come  down 
from  preceding  generations,  unsolved  and  unperformed, 
the  greatest  of  which  is  the  problem  of  Christian  unity. 
But  Paul  shows  us  that  love  makes  unity  possible;  and 
unity  enables  Christians  to  accomplish  all  the  tasks  as¬ 
signed  to  them  by  the  Lord  Jesus. 

For  this  reason,  John  the  Apostle  of  love,  writes,  “  Be¬ 
loved,  let  us  love  one  another ;  for  love  is  of  God.  *  *  * 
Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  love  God,  but  that  God  loved 
us,  and  sent  the  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins. 
Beloved,  if  God  so  loved  us,  we  also  ought  to  love  one 
another.”  There  is  enough  in  the  above  to  melt  the 
heart  of  every  true  Christian,  and  unite  it  with  all  other 
Christian  hearts,  and  join  his  hands  with  all  other  Chris¬ 
tian  hands ;  and  thus  united  win  the  victory  for  Christ 
and  His  church.  When  Christians  are  thus  brought 
under  the  spell  and  influence  of  the  Love  of  God,  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  and  every  other  Christian  problem  and  task  are 
possible. 


28 


INTRODUCTION 


In  this  connection,  the  old  hymn,  “  Blest  Be  the  Tie,” 
has  added  significance: 

“  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 

Our  hearts  in  Christian  love; 

The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 
Is  like  to  that  above. 

Before  our  Father’s  throne 
We  pour  our  ardent  pray’rs ; 

Our  fears,  our  hopes,  our  aims  are  one, 

Our  comforts  and  our  cares. 

We  share  our  mutual  woes, 

Our  mutual  burdens  bear; 

And  often  for  each  other  flows 
The  sympathizing  tear.” 

And  then  that  other  song,  sung  to  the  tune  and  words 
of  “  Loyalty  to  Christ,”  which  expresses  the  rest  of 
Paul’s  teaching  on  unity  and  victory  through  unity,  as 
follows : 

“  From  over  hill  and  plain  there  comes  the  signal  strain, 

’Tis  unity,  unity,  unity  in  Christ; 

Its  music  rolls  along,  the  hills  take  up  the  song 
Of  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ. 

Chorus 

On  to  victory !  On  to  victory !  Cries  our  great  Commander 
“  On  ” ; 

We’ll  move  at  his  command,  we  will  soon  possess  the  land, 
Thro’  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ. 

O  hear,  ye  brave,  the  sound  that  moves  the  earth  around, 

’Tis  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ; 

Arise  to  dare  and  do,  ring  out  the  watchword  true. 

Of  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ. 

Come,  join  our  loyal  throng,  we’ll  rout  the  giant  wrong, 

’Tis  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ, 

Where  Satan’s  banners  float  we’ll  send  the  bugle  note. 

Of  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ. 

The  strength  of  youth  we  lay  at  Jesus’  feet  to-day, 

’Tis  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ; 

His  Gospel  we’ll  proclaim  thro’out  the  world’s  domain, 

Through  unity,  unity,  yes,  unity  in  Christ.” 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  POSSIBLE? 


29 


To  be  sure,  the  only  way  that  Christians  will  ever  be 
able  to  defeat  Satan  and  proclaim  the  Gospel  throughout 
the  world  is  by  unity.  This  is  why  our  Lord  prayed  that 
his  disciples  might  be  one,  namely,  “  that  the  world  may 
believe and  the  world  is  not  going  to  believe  until  we 
are  one ;  and  he  would  not  have  prayed  for  our  unity 
if  it  had  not  been  possible.  Let  no  one,  therefore,  draw 
back  from  this  task  and  problem,  believing  it  to  be  im¬ 
possible,  because  Jesus  says,  “  With  God  all  things  are 
possible and  Paul  says,  “  Who  shall  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  Christ?  *  *  *  We  are  more  than  con¬ 

querors  through  him  that  loved  us.”  Accordingly,  we 
have  a  tie  in  Christ  that  makes  Christian  unity  possible, 
and  Christian  unity  makes  every  Christian  task  possible. 


Ill 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  PRACTICABLE? 

f  F  Christian  unity  is  ever  to  be  realized,  it  must  be 
made  more  than  possible;  it  must  be  made  prac- 
JBU  ticable.  A  practical  way  must  be  found.  Love 
makes  Christian  unity  possible  by  giving  a  sufficient 
motive  for  the  realization  of  unity;  in  other  words  love 
gives  the  vision  that  can  lead  to  unity ;  but  that  is  all  love 
can  do.  Love  is  the  first  essential  to  Christian  unity ;  but 
it  is  not  the  only  essential,  as  some  seem  to  think.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  they  teach  that  all  you  need  to  do  is  to  get 
people  to  love  each  other,  and  they  will  unite ;  but  love 
alone  can  not  unite  people.  Love  alone  makes  people 
visionary  and  sentimental,  and  consequently  weak  and 
ineffective.  A  practical  way  for  the  realization  of  love’s 
vision  must  be  found  to  accomplish  anything  worth  while 
for  Christian  unity. 

Paul  gives  the  practical  side  of  Christian  unity  in  this 
statement:  “  In  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  nor 

uncircumcision  availeth  anything,  but  faith  working 
through  love.”  Neither  love  alone  nor  faith  alone  can 
avail,  or  realize,  but  “  faith  working  through  love.” 
Faith  and  love  working  together,  this  working  combi¬ 
nation,  “  avails,”  that  is,  can  do  things,  can  solve  any 
Christian  problem  or  perform  any  Christian  task.  The 
reason  for  this  is  evident.  Love  gives  the  vision  that  is 
essential  to  any  great  work,  and  faith  leads  into  the  prac¬ 
ticable  way,  which  is  the  other  essential.  Faith  is  prac¬ 
tical  in  its  very  nature  and  leadings,  because  it  is  “  the 
conviction  of  things  not  seen.”  It  therefore  rests  upon 
evidence,  and  follows  the  course  of  reason,  so  must  be 

30 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  PRACTICABLE?  31 


practical  in  its  leadings.  For  this  reason  faith  never 
goes  off  at  a  tangent  like  hope,  or  loses  sight  of  the 
earth  in  its  visions  like  love;  but  it  supplements  love  by 
opening  up  a  practical  way  for  the  realization  of  love’s 
visions.  For  this  reason  faith  and  love  working  together 
“  avails,”  or  can  do  things.  This  is  true  in  all  the  rela¬ 
tionships  of  life,  and  especially  “  in  Christ,”  as  Paul 
states.  We  have  considered  in  the  preceding  chapter  the 
part  that  love  performs  in  bringing  about  Christian  unity, 
namely,  it  gives  the  motive  or  vision  that  makes  Christian 
unity  possible ;  and  now  we  come  to  the  consideration  of 
faith,  the  yoke-fellow  of  love,  which  makes  unity  prac¬ 
ticable  ;  and  through  this  working  combination  of  faith 
and  love  we  look  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  Chris¬ 
tian  unity. 

Notice  first  what  kind  of  faith  “  avails.”  It  is  a  “  work¬ 
ing  ”  faith,  says  Paul.  A  dormant  faith,  faith  in  the  ab¬ 
stract,  if  there  be  such,  can  not  avail.  James  says  that 
“  faith  apart  from  works  is  dead,”  so,  of  course,  can  do 
nothing ;  but  faith  expressed  by  works,  or  a  working  faith 
is  alive,  and  can  do  things.  This  is  the  faith  that  Paul 
says  “  avails,”  or  can  lead  the  way  to  unity.  It  is  also 
faith  that  works  along  definite  rational  lines,  and  opens 
up  a  practicable  way  to  unity.  So,  then,  Christian  unity 
on  its  practical  side  is  more  a  unity  of  workers  than  wor¬ 
shippers,  more  a  unity  of  hands  than  hearts,  more  a  unity 
of  minds  than  spirits.  Many  people  think  of  Christian 
unity  as  abstract  or  subjective,  and  speak  of  it  as  the 
unity  of  faith  and  love,  which  is  realized  in  the  hearts  and 
souls  of  the  people  that  believe  and  love  alike,  so  they 
call  it  the  unity  of  kindred  hearts  and  souls ;  but  this  is 
not  the  whole  of  Christian  unity  according  to  Paul.  While 
Christian  unity  springs  from  hearts  and  souls  that  believe 
and  love  alike,  it  expresses  itself  in  a  unity  of  work,  and 


32 


INTRODUCTION 


has  no  other  practical  meaning.  Paul,  in  speaking  of 
himself  and  Apollos,  says,  “  We  are  God’s  fellow-work¬ 
ers,”  “  workers  together  for  God,”  “  fellow-workers  for 
and  with  God,”  or  “We  work  together  in  God’s  ser¬ 
vice,”  as  it  is  variously  translated.  This  unity  of  work 
and  workers  is  Christian  unity ;  or,  in  other  words,  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  is  all  Christians  in  a  community  working  to¬ 
gether  for  God.  This  is  its  only  practical  meaning. 

However,  people  may  work  together,  and  still  not  be 
united.  It  is  “  faith  working  through  love  ”  that  unites. 
While  it  is  a  working  faith  that  directs  and  leads  into 
unity,  it  is  love  that  does  the  uniting.  Love  is  the  flame 
that  melts  the  hearts,  and  cements  the  hands  of  all  work¬ 
ing  together,  without  which  there  can  be  no  real  unity. 
Many  Christians  and  churches  often  work  together  in  the 
same  community  at  the  same  task ;  but  they  work  in  com¬ 
petition  and  rivalry  with  no  love  in  their  hearts  for  each 
other,  which  separates  rather  than  unites  them.  Rivalry 
and  competition  are  the  inevitable  results  of  overlapping 
churches,  which  engenders  strife  and  division ;  but  all  that 
have  a  common  “  faith  working  through  love  ”  will  come 
together  and  unite  in  heart  and  hand  for  Christ  and  his 
church. 

But  what  faith  and  whose  faith  will  lead  people  to 
unite?  This  question  has  been  the  cause  of  many  divi¬ 
sions  in  the  church;  and,  unless  we  can  settle  definitely 
and  agreeably  this  question,  there  can  be  no  hope  of 
unity.  There  have  been  many  faiths,  or  rather  many 
statements  of  faith ;  and  upon  each  a  sect  has  been 
founded,  and  these  various  creeds  have  been  the  cause  of 
divisions  in  the  church.  Unless  we  can  find  our  way  out 
of  this  credal  warfare  into  the  peace  of  a  common  faith, 
we  cannot  unite,  so  we  look  for  the  settlement  of  this 
question.  Faith  is  an  essential  to  unity,  and  must  be 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  PRACTICABLE?  33 


definitely  stated  and  clearly  understood  to  have  unity  in 
the  church.  Any  effort  to  unite  without  mentioning  faith, 
as  some  are  trying  to  do,  is  like  staging  Hamlet  with 
Hamlet  left  out.  Faith  is  the  chief  actor  on  the  pro¬ 
gramme  for  Christian  unity,  leading  the  way  into  unity; 
so  we  must  know  definitely  and  clearly  what  or  whose 
faith  to  follow. 

Fortunately,  Paul  settles  this  question,  as  he  does  every 
other  question  that  is  an  essential  to  unity.  In  his  letter 
to  the  Ephesians  he  speaks  of  “  the  unity  of  the  faith,” 
showing  that  the  faith  that  unites  is  a  definite  faith ;  and 
in  his  letter  to  the  Romans  he  defines  this  faith,  saying 
that  it  is  “  faith  that  comes  by  hearing  and  hearing  by  the 
word  of  God.”  Any  faith,  therefore,  that  comes  from 
within  a  man,  that  he  originates  and  formulates,  or  does 
'  not  come  from  without  by  hearing  is  not  Christian  faith 
but  personal  faith,  and  can  not  be  made  the  way  to  Chris¬ 
tian  unity.  Furthermore,  faith  may  come  from  without 
by  hearing,  and  still  not  be  Christian  faith ;  it  must  come 
by  “  hearing  the  word  of  God.”  This  brings  us  to  the 
word  of  God  for  the  source  and  statement  of  Christian 
faith.  The  source  of  this  faith  will  be  considered  in  this 
chapter,  and  the  statement  in  a  later  chapter,  Chapter  II 
of  Part  Two. 

The  only  sure  and  reliable  source  for  the  word  of  God 
is  the  Bible,  “  the  Scriptures  inspired  of  God.”  While 
some  claim  to  have  received  the  word  of  God  from  other 
•sources,  their  credentials  for  the  same  are  not  convincing, 
so  we  are  shut  up  to  the  word  of  God  as  revealed  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  for  the  faith  that  unites,  which  all  Chris¬ 
tians  accept  as  a  true  revelation  of  God’s  word.  What¬ 
ever  later  revelations  any  one  may  claim  to  have  they 
cannot  be  made  the  basis  of  unity,  because  other  people 
cannot  be  convinced  of  their  authenticity ;  but  for  all  that 


84 


INTRODUCTION 


believe  the  Christian  canon  to  be  the  sacred  Scriptures  of 
God,  there  is  ground  for  unity.  However  some  people 
seem  to  think,  that  they  are  the  only  people  in  the  world 
that  really  believe  and  teach  the  word  of  God  as  revealed 
in  the  Scriptures ;  and  to  show  that  this  is  not  true  the 
following  statements  from  leaders  in  the  various  churches 
to-day  are  herein  given.  They  show  conclusively  that 
they  believe  the  Scriptures  to  be  the  word  of  God,  and 
are  willing  to  come  to  them  for  the  faith  that  unites. 

“  We  must  go  back  to  essential  New  Testament  principles,  for 
their  ancient  program,  re-emphasized  in  the  largest  way,  is  the 
conquering  program  of  the  future.” — Rev.  Oliver  Huckel,  D.D. 
(Congregationalist),  Baltimore,  Md. 

“  The  only  solid  basis  of  church  union  is  the  general  abandon¬ 
ment  of  doctrines,  traditions,  theories  and  rites  not  found  in  the 
New  Testament.  So  long  as  Christians  cling  to  the  traditions 
of  the  latest  fathers,  and  refuse  to  go  back  to  the  plain  teachings 
and  simple  ordinances  of  the  New  Testament,  there  will  be  irre¬ 
concilable  divisions  in  the  body  of  Christ.  The  true  basis  of  the 
union  of  Christendom,  for  which  so  many  to-day  are  longing,  is  a 
general  return  to  primitive  Christianity.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
determine  what  that  is,  for  it  is  writ  large  on  the  pages  of  the 
Book.  Let  us  all  cheerfully  give  up  every  dogma,  every  cere¬ 
monial,  not  found  there,  and  Christian  and  church  union  will 
come  of  itself.  Any  attempt  at  union  on  a  lower  plane  will  prove 
a  failure.” — Examiner  (Baptist). 

“All  things  are  calling  us  just  now  to  give  ourselves  and  our 
church  to  primary  things,  and  to  keep  out  of  the  way  all  second¬ 
ary  things,  however  good  and  true,  however  much  we  prize  them. 
It  is  time  to  rally  to  the  defense  of  our  common  Christianity,  and 
let  our  private,  partisan  and  denominational  peculiarities  shift  for 
themselves.  If  they  die,  so  much  gain  for  the  kingdom  of  God.” — 
Dr.  Wm.  P.  Merrill  (Presbyterian). 

“  We,  the  representatives  of  the  Presbyterian,  the  Methodist  and 
the  Congregational  branches  of  the  church  of  Christ  in  Canada, 
do  hereby  set  forth  tihe  substance  of  the  Christian  faith  as  com¬ 
monly  held  among  us.  In  doing  so  we  build  upon  the  founda¬ 
tion  laid  by  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being 
the  chief  cornerstone,” — From  “ The  Published  Basis  of  Union 

“  There  is  a  necessity  of  a  return  to  first  principles ;  we  must 
get  behind  the  prejudices,  interests,  errors  and  associations  of  his¬ 
tory  to  the  fountain-head  of  Christianity;  we  must  sit  at  the  feet 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  PRACTICABLE?  35 


of  the  Master,  and  move  again  in  the  company  of  the  apostles. 
We  must  become  in  temper  and  in  spirit,  and  not  merely  in  name 
and  in  claim,  an  apostolic  church.” — Canon  Hensley  Henson 
(Episcopalian). 

“  The  church  that  we  need  is  a  church  that  stands  for  the  sim¬ 
plicity  and  the  sufficiency  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  calling 
itself  by  no  name  but  one.  The  best  men  in  all  the  churches  are 
seeking  to  a  common  basis  of  union,  to  come  together  on  some 
large  Christian  confession,  and  to  live  with  one  another  as 
becomes  disciples  of  Christ.” — Dr.  John  Hunter,  of  Trinity 
Church,  Glasgow,  Scotland. 

“  We  do  hereby  affirm  that  Christian  unity,  now  so  earnestly 
desired  by  the  memorialists,  can  be  restored  only  by  the  return 
of  all  Christian  communions  to  the  principles  of  unity  exemplified 
by  the  undivided  catholic  church  during  the  first  ages  of  its 
existence,  which  principles  we  believe  to  be  the  substantial  deposit 
of  Christian  faith  and  order  committed  by  His  apostles  to  the 
church  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  and,  therefore,  incapable  of 
compromise  or  surrender  by  those  who  have  been  ordained  to  be 
its  stewards  for  the  common  and  equal  benefit  of  all  men.” — 
'  The  Bishops  of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  the  Whole  Church. 

“  We  want  a  Christianity  more  pure,  more  practical,  more  con¬ 
formed  to  the  original  gospel.” — Catholic  Modernist. 

This  willingness  on  the  part  of  all  to  follow  the  faith 
that  comes  by  hearing  the  word  of  God  as  revealed  in 
the  Christian  Scriptures  is  an  important  step  toward 
unity ;  and  furthermore  Paul  assures  us  that  “  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  inspired  of  God  *  *  *  completely  furnish  the 

man  of  God  unto  every  good  work.”  2  Tim.  3 :  16.  So 
then,  if  they  do,  they  will  completely  furnish  us  unto  the 
greatest  of  good  works,  Christian  unity.  When  we 
come  to  examine  the  Scriptures  for  teaching  on  this  sub¬ 
ject,  we  find  that  they  speak  clearly  and  fully.  The  Bible 
has  much  to  say  on  the  subject  of  unity.  The  following 
quotations  are  some  of  the  important  passages  bearing 
upon  unity: 

“Let  there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee;  for 
we  are  brethren.”  Gen.  13  :8. 

“  Behold,  how  good  and  how  excellent  it  is 

For  brethren  to  dwell  together  ki  unity ! 

It  is  like  the  precious  oil  upon  the  head, 


36 


INTRODUCTION 


That  ran  down  upon  the  beard,  even  Aaron’s  head, 

That  came  down  upon  the  skirt  of  his  garments; 

Like  the  dew  of  Hermon, 

That  cometh  down  upon  the  mountains  of  Zion : 

For  there  Jehovah  commanded  the  blessing, 

Even  life  forevermore.”  Ps.  133. 

“Two1  are  better  than  one,  because  they  have  a  good  reward 
for  their  labor.  For  if  they  fall,  the  one  will  lift  up  his  fellow; 
but  woe  to  him  that  is  alone  when  he  falleth,  and  hath  not 
another  to  lift  him  up.  Again,  if  two  lie  together,  then  they  have 
warmth;  but  how  can  one  be  warm  alone?  And  if  a  man  pre¬ 
vail  against  him  that  is  alone,  two  shall  withstand  him;  and  a 
threefold  cord  is  not  quickly  broken.”  Ecc.  4:9-12. 

“  The  voice  of  thy  watchmen !  they  lift  up  the  voice,  they  sing 
together;  for  they  shall  see  eye  to  eye,  when  Jehovah  returneth 
to  Zion.  Break  forth  into  joy,  sing  together,  ye  waste  places  of 
Jerusalem.”  Isa.  52 18-9. 

“  For  one  is  your  teacher,  and  all  ye  are  brethren.”  Mat.  23  :8. 

“  If  a  kingdom  be  divided  against  itself,  that  kingdom  can  not 
stand.  And  if  a  house  be  divided  against  itself,  that  house  can 
not  stand.”  Mark  3  124-5. 

‘"Now  this  he  (Caiaphas)  said  not  of  himself;  but  being  high 
priest  that  year  prophesied  that  Jesus  should  die  for  the  nation ; 
and  not  for  the  nation  only,  but  that  he  might  also  gather  together 
into  one  the  children  of  God  that  are  scattered  abroad.”  John 
2:51-52. 

“And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold;  them  also 
I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice;  and  there  shall  be 
one  fold,  and  one  shepherd.”  Jno.  10:16. 

“  Holy  father,  keep  them  in  thy  name,  which  thou  hast  given 
me,  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are.”  Neither  for  these 
only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  that  believe  on  me  through  their 
word;  that  they  may  all  be  one;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me, 
and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  in  us;  that  the  world  may 
believe  that  thou  didst  send  me,  and  lovedst  them,  even  as  thou 
lovedst  me.”  John  17:11,  20-23. 

“Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  through  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  that  there  be  no 
divisions  among  you;  but  that  ye  be  perfected  together  in  the 
same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment.  For  it  hath  been  signified 
unto  me  concerning  you,  my  brethren,  by  them  that  are  of  the 
household  of  Cloe,  that  there  are  contentions  among  you.  Now 
this,  I  mean,  that  each  one  of  you  sayeth,  I  am  of  Paul ;  and  I  of 
Apollos ;  and  I  of  Cephas;  and  I  of  Christ.  Is  Christ  divided? 
was  Paul  crucified  for  you?  or  were  ye  baptized  into  the  name 
of  Paul?”  I  Cor.  1:10-13. 


IS  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  PRACTICABLE?  37 


“  For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the 
members  of  the  body,  being  many,  are  one  body ;  so  also  is  Christ. 
For  in  one  Spirit  were  ye  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether 
Jews  or  Greeks,  whether  bond  or  free ;  and  were  all  made  to 
drink  of  one  Spirit.”  I  Cor.  12:12-13. 

“  I,  therefore,  the  prisoner  in  the  Lord,  beseech  you  to  walk 
worthily  of  the  calling  wherewith  ye  were  called,  with  all  lowli¬ 
ness  and  meekness,  with  longsuffering,  forbearing  one  another  in 
love ;  giving  diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond 
of  peace.  There  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  also  ye 
were  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling;  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through 
all,  and  in  all.”  Eph.  4:1-6. 

“  Only  let  your  manner  of  life  be  worthy  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ :  that  whether  I  come  and  see  you  or  be  absent,  I  may 
hear  of  your  state,  that  ye  stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with  one  soul 
striving  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.” 

“  Make  full  my  joy,  that  ye  be  of  the  same  mind,  having  the 
same  love,  being  of  one  accord,  of  one  mind ;  doing  nothing 
through  faction  or  through  vainglory,  but  in  lowliness  of  mind 
each  counting  the  other  better  than  himself;  not  looking  each 
of  you  to  his  own  things,  but  each  of  you  also  to  the  things  of 
others.  Phil.  1:27;  2  :2-4. 

“Beloved,  let  us  love  one  another;  for  love  is  of  God;  and 
every  one  that  loveth  is  begotten  of  God,  and  knoweth  God.  He 
that  loveth  not  knoweth  not  God ;  for  God  is  love.  Herein  was 
the  love  of  God  manifested  in  us,  that  God  hath  sent  his  only 
begotten  Son  into  the  world  that  we  might  live  through  him. 
Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and 
sent  the  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  ous  sins.  Beloved,  if  God 
so  loved  us,  we  also  ought  to  love  one  another.”  John  1  7-1 1. 

“  And  I  heard  the  number  of  them  that  were  sealed,  a  hundred 
and  forty  and  four  thousand,  sealed  out  of  every  tribe  of  the 
children  of  Israel.  After  these  things  I  saw,  and  behold,  a  great 
multitude,  which  no  man  could  number,  out  of  every  nation  and 
of  all  tribes  and  peoples  and  tongues,  standing  before  the  throne 
and  before  the  Lamb,  arrayed  in  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their 
hands ;  and  they  cry  with  a  great  voice,  saying,  Salvation  unto 
our  God  who  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb.  Amen.” 
Rev.  7:4,  9-10. 

In  addition  to  the  above  passages  there  is  Paul’s  Letter 
to  the  Ephesians,  the  major  theme  of  which  is  the  unity 
of  the  church.  In  this  letter  Paul  deals  directly  and  spe¬ 
cifically  with  the  subject  of  Christian  unity,  and  gives  a 


38 


INTRODUCTION 


complete  solution  of  the  problem,  that,  as  he  states,  the 
man  of  God  may  thoroughly  furnish  unto  the  good  work 
of  unity.  Not  that  the  church  was  divided  in  Paul’s  day, 
but  the  Christian  Scriptures  were  written  for  all  ages  and 
needs  of  the  church.  Paul  was  directed  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  write  this  letter,  that,  when  division  came,  the  church 
might  know  how  to  restore  unity.  This  brings  us  to  the 
study  of  this  letter,  of  which  this  book  is  an  exposition,  to 
bring  out  Paul’s  teaching  on  the  subject  of  Christian  unity. 

Now,  in  conclusion  of  this  chapter,  we  have  shown  that 
Christian  faith  by  its  nature  and  content  makes  Christian 
unity  practicable,  because  faith  follows  the  course  of  rea¬ 
son,  and  is,  therefore,  practical  in  its  leadings ;  and  Chris¬ 
tian  faith  leads  all  to  the  Christian  Scriptures,  which 
clearly  and  definitely  reveal  the  word  of  God,  which  all 
Christians  accept  as  the  only  practical  way  or  basis  of 
unity.  Furthermore,  since  the  Christian  Scriptures,  which 
are  the  source  of  Christian  faith,  abound  in  teaching  on 
the  subject  of  unity,  and  thereby  “  thoroughly  furnish  the 
man  of  God  unto  the  good  work  ”  of  unity,  and  since 
Paul’s  letter  to  the  Ephesians,  as  we  will  show  in  the 
following  chapters,  is  a  clear  and  definite  solution  of  the 
problem  of  unity  in  the  church,  for  these  reasons  and 
others,  Christian  unity  is  clearly  practicable.  While  it 
is  a  great  task  and  a  difficult  problem,  it  is  made  both- 
possible  and  practicable  through  this  working  combina¬ 
tion,  “  faith  working  through  love.”  Faith  and  love 
working  together  can  solve  any  Christian  problem  and 
perform  any  Christian  task.  Love  gives  the  vision  that 
makes  unity  possible;  and  faith  opens  up  a  practicable 
way  to  unity.  The  details  of  this  way  are  clearly  set  out 
in  Paul’s  letter  to  the  Ephesians,  which  we  now  propose  to 
study  under  the  following  heads  or  divisions :  The 
Church  For  AH  and  All  For  The  Church. 


IV 


A  PERSONAL  WORD 

A  FEW  words  in  advance  of  this  study  of  Paul's 
Letter  to  the  Ephesians  in  explanation  of  the 
divisions  of  the  letter  will  help  in  the  study  of 
the  same.  Also  the  reader  might  be  interested  in  know¬ 
ing  how  the  author  came  by  this  division.  It  is  not 
altogether  original.  While  the  author  is  not  a  dreamer, 
as  was  Joseph,  nor  a  believer  in  dreams,  as  was 
Nebuchadnezzar,  this  division  of  Paul's  letter  came  to  the 
'  author  in  a  dream ;  and  at  the  risk  of  being  thought  per¬ 
sonal  and  sentimental  for  the  sake  of  explaining  and  em¬ 
phasizing  the  above  divisions  of  Paul’s  letter,  this  dream, 
which  grew  out  of  my  thinking  and  work,  is  given.  This 
personal  word  will  also  be  suggestive,  we  trust,  of  prac¬ 
tical  ways  and  means  of  working  in  the  interest  of  Chris¬ 
tian  unity.  There  is  a  widespread  desire  on  the  part  of 
many  Christians  to-day  to  do  something  for  unity ;  but 
they  are  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do  and  where  to  take 
hold  of  the  work.  The  following  is  an  account  of  the 
author’s  personal  work  in  the  interest  of  Christian  unity, 
which  is  given  in  introduction  to  the  study  of  Paul’s 
Letter  on  unity  in  hope  of  suggesting  practical  ways  and 
means  of  working  for  Christian  unity. 

I  have  been  working  in  the  interest  of  Christian  unity 
for  several  years,  and  have  tried  several  ways  and  means 
of  advancing  the  cause  of  unity.  This  work  has  been 
necessarily,  for  the  most  part,  educational  and  inspira¬ 
tional.  While  there  is  a  widespread  interest  in  unity, 

39 


40 


INTRODUCTION 


few  are  ready  and  prepared  for  any  definite  steps  toward 
the  same,  or  have  any  well-defined  correct  ideas  a3  to 
what  Christian  unity  is  and  how  it  may  be  attained.  This 
necessitates  an  educational  and  inspirational  propaganda 
on  the  essentials  of  Christian  unity  and  on  the  ways  and 
means  of  realizing  the  same.  This  was  undertaken  first 
through  the  religious  press  and  by  meetings  in  the  vari¬ 
ous  churches  in  the  interest  of  unity;  but  there  is  a  sec¬ 
tarian  denominational  atmosphere  about  every  church  and 
church  paper  that  counteracts  and  defeats  any  real  unity 
work  therein. 

To  get  away  from  these  ecclesiastical  barriers  I  began 
the  use  of  tracts,  and  secured  a  tent  for  meetings  in  the 
interest  of  unity,  which  I  found  more  effective  and  accept¬ 
able.  For  some  reason,  the  people  look  upon  a  tent  as  a 
religious  “  no  man’s  land and  they  come  to  this  open 
forum  more  freely  and  open-mindedly  and  without  de¬ 
nominational  bias  and  alignment.  Also  things  that  could 
not  be  properly  mentioned  in  the  churches  could  be  freely 
and  openly  discussed  without  offense  to  any  one. 

However,  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  have  had  to 
overcome  has  been  to  convince  the  people  that  I  was  there 
in  the  interest  of  unity.  We  are  so  strongly  organized 
and  strictly  aligned  along  denominational  lines  that  all 
our  thinking  and  work  are  in  denominational  channels 
and  for  sectarian  ends,  which  makes  a  purely  undenomi¬ 
national  work  in  the  interest  ®f  unity  hard  for  the  people 
to  understand  and  accept.  They  are  at  first  suspicious  of 
such  a  work,  believing  that  you  have  a  sectarian  card  up 
your  sleeve  that  you  will  sooner  ©r  later  play  to  their 
undoing.  This  sectarian  suspicion  is  the  first  great  bar¬ 
rier  to  unity,  and  must  be  overcome  before  any  effective 
work  for  unity  can  be  done.  Almost  all  churches  are 
interested  in  unity ;  but  we  have  not  yet  reached  the  point 


A  PERSONAL  WORD 


41 


where  we  can  trust  the  sincerity  of  the  other  party  in  his 
professions  of  interest  in  unity.  The  establishment  of  a 
mutual  confidence  along  this  line  is  a  pre-essential  to  any 
unity  work ;  and,  when  this  is  thoroughly  done,  the  work 
is  comparatively  easy,  because  people,  divorced  from  their 
denominational  affiliations,  are  about  the  same  in  mind 
and  heart,  and  are  agreeably  surprised  to  find  themselves 
of  one  mind  and  one  heart  with  so  many  people. 

In  the  interest  of  a  mutual  understanding  and  confi¬ 
dence  I  used  many  signs  and  placards  at  the  tent,  such  as 
Christian  Unity ,  Not  To  Antagonize  But  To  Harmonize, 
Not  Your  Church  Nor  My  Church  But  Christ’s  Church, 
Why  Not  One  Church  For  This  Community,  For  Our 
Lord’s  Unanswered  Prayer,  We  Have  The  Right  To 
Differ  But  Not  To  Divide ;  but  all  these  were  more  or  less 
misunderstood  and  misconstrued  by  suspicious  sectarians. 
Being  at  a  loss  for  a  better  statement  of  the  motive  and 
purpose  of  the  work  that  I  was  trying  to  do,  I  had  the 
following  dream.  I  dreamed  that  I  was  on  my  way 
down  the  street  to  the  tent  for  the  night  meeting;  and, 
as  I  came  in  sight  of  the  tent,  I  saw  above  it  in  flaming 
letters  this  sign,  The  Church  For  All  and  All  For  The 
Church,  which  so  impressed  me  that  I  woke  up,  and 
thought  the  dream  and  statement  over.  The  next  day, 
following  the  suggestion  and  leading  of  the  dream,  I 
went  and  had  the  sign  made  and  placed  over  the  tent. 
It  was,  I  suppose,  just  an  ordinary  dream,  born  of  my 
thinking  and  work;  yet  I  have  found  it  a  striking  and 
cerrect  statement  of  unity  work, — a  better  statement,  in 
fact,  than  I  had  been  able  to  frame,  when  awake,  so  there 
might  have  been  in  it  the  leading  of  the  Spirit. 

In  addition  to  its  being  a  striking  and  true  statement 
of  Christian  unity,  I  found  it  to  be  also  the  major  theme 
and  logical  divisions  of  Paul’s  letter  to  the  Ephesians, 


42 


INTRODUCTION 


which  we  were  engaged  in  studying  at  the  tent  with  the 
view  of  bringing  out  his  teaching  on  unity.  Accordingly, 

I  found  that,  in  the  first  half  of  the  letter,  he  sets  forth, 
The  Church  For  All,  and  in  the  latter  half,  All  For  The 
Church .  I  thereupon  began  the  study  of  Paul’s  letter  under 
these  two  heads  and  the  exposition  of  the  same  verse  by 
verse  and  chapter  by  chapter  in  these  unity  meetings, 
making  application  of  his  teaching  to  the  problem  of  unity 
to-day.  Such  an  exposition  of  Paul’s  teaching  on  the 
subject  of  Christian  unity  brings  the  solution  of  the  unity 
problem  to  the  people  in  an  authoritative  way,  which  com¬ 
mands  their  attention  and  acceptance.  There  is  no  realm 
of  religion  in  which  people  are  more  careful  to  be  sure 
of  their  grounds  than  in  Christian  unity.  Individually 
and  as  a  denomination  they  will  proceed  without  so  much 
care,  precision  and  caution;  but  in  respect  to  unity  they 
must  be  sure  of  their  footing,  and  are  ready  to  draw  back 
at  the  least  appearance  of  doubtful  ground.  So,  for  this 
reason,  it  is  useless  to  teach  anything  in  the  interest  of 
unity  except  that  which  is  authoritative.  If  you  speak  for 
unity,  you  must  speak  “  as  one  having  authority.”  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  in  my  preaching  in  the  interest  of  unity,  I  have 
confined  myself  to  an  exposition  of  Paul’s  letter  to  the 
Ephesians ;  and  I  shall  do  the  same  in  the  following  chap¬ 
ters  of  this  book.  Paul’s  letter  is  addressed  to  “  the  faith¬ 
ful  in  Christ  Jesus,” — that  is,  to  all  Christians  of  all  ages ; 
and  to  no  age  is  his  teaching  more  applicable  and  needed 
than  to  and  by  the  age  in  which  we  are  now  living.  This 
book  proposes  to  be  simply  an  exposition  of  Paul’s  letter 
with  an  application  of  the  teaching  of  the  same  to  the 
church  of  to-day.  It  proposes  to  show  that  the  teaching 
of  this  letter  is  a  complete  and  practicable  solution  of  the 
problem  of  Christian  unity,  which  is  so  much  desired  to¬ 
day  by  all  communions. 


A  PERSONAL  WORD 


43 


The  church,  and  especially  the  unity  of  the  same,  is 
the  major  theme  of  the  letter;  and,  while  many  other 
things  are  treated,  they  are  set  forth  in  their  bearing  on 
the  unity  of  the  church.  The  first  three  chapters  of  the 
letter  are  devoted  to  the  church  as  an  institution ;  and  the 
last  three  chapters  to  the  people  that  compose  the  church. 
In  the  first  half  of  the  letter,  according  to  our  division 
of  the  same,  Paul  sets  forth,  The  Church  For  All,  and  in 
the  latter  half,  All  For  The  Church.  We  propose  to  show 
that  Paul  has  herein  completely  provided  for  the  estab¬ 
lishment  and  maintenance  of  a  united  church  and  that  an 
application  of  his  teaching  to  the  church  to-day  will  re¬ 
store  it  to  its  original  unity.  If  this  book,  which  has 
grown  out  of  my  experiences,  thinking  and  work  in  behalf 
of  Christian  unity,  proves  to  be  a  helpful  contribution  to 
this  great  cause,  for  which  Christ  prayed,  and  Paul 
planned  and  taught,  I  shall  be  humbly  glad ;  and  to  this 
end  it  is  written  and  sent  out  on  its  mission  of  peace. 
That  it  may  be  so  read  and  used  is  the  earnest  prayer  of 
the  author. 


PART  I 

THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 

Eph.  1-3 


V 


THE  CHURCH  PLANNED 

PAUL,  an  apostle  of  Christ  Jesus  through  the  will 
of  God,  to  the  saints  that  are  at  Ephesus,  and  the 
faithful  in  Christ  Jesus:  Grace  to  you  and  peace 
from  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

“  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  hath  blessed  us  with  every  spiritual  blessing  in  the  heavenly 
places  in  Christ :  even  as  he  chose  us  in  him  before  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish 
before  him  in  love :  having  foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as 
sons  through  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself,  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  which 
he  freely  bestowed  upon  us  in  the  Beloved :  in  whom  we  have 
our  redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  our  tres- 
Dasses,  according  to  the  riches  o>f  his  grace,  which  he  made  to 
abound  toward  us  in  all  wisdom  and  prudence,  making  known 
unto  us  the  mystery  of  his  will,  according  to  his  good  pleasure 
which  he  purposed  in  him,  unto  a  dispensation  of  the  fullness 
of  the  times,  to  sum  up  all  things  in  Christ,  the  things  in  the 
heavens,  and  the  things  in  the  earth ;  in  him,  I  say,  in  whom 
also  we  were  made  a  heritage,  having  been  foreordained  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  purpose  of  him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the  coun¬ 
cil  of  his  will ;  to  the  end  that  we  should  be  unto  the  praise  of 
his  glory,  we  who  before  hoped  in  Christ:  in  whom  ye  also, 
having  heard  the  word  of  truth,  the  gospel  of  your  salvation, — 
in  whom,  having  also  believed,  ye  were  sealed  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  an  earnest  of  our  inheritance,  unto 
the  redemption  of  God’s  own  possession,  unto  the  praise  of  his 
glory.”  i :  1-14. 

In  the  above  Paul  sets  forth  the  church  planned,  and 
states  that  it  was  planned  “  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world.”  Without  entering  into  the  intricacies  and  mys¬ 
teries  of  foreordination  and  predestination,  which  have 

47 


48 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


been  major  themes  in  the  theology  of  the  past,  we  note 
first  that  “  God  chose  us  in  Christ  ”  Those  in  Christ 
constitute  the  Church  of  Christ,  which  was  planned 
“  before  the  foundation  of  the  world.”  In  this  planning 
of  the  church  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  we  see 
the  true  dignity  and  worth  of  the  church.  It  was  of 
first  importance  and  consideration  with  God  in  His  crea¬ 
tion  of  the  world  and  every  thing  thereon,  and,  there¬ 
fore,  of  more  value  than  every  thing  else.  The  world 
and  every  thing  on  the  earth  were  of  secondary  impor¬ 
tance  and  value  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  were  made  con¬ 
tributory  to  the  church.  Of  course,  Paul  is  not  speaking 
here  of  the  church  as  an  organization,  but  of  those  in 
Christ,  the  people  that  compose  the  church.  This  insti¬ 
tution,  consisting  of  “  those  in  Christ,”  is  that  which 
claimed  the  supreme  consideration  and  valuation  of  Al¬ 
mighty  God  in  his  incomprehensible  plans  for  the  world. 
Accordingly,  the  people  of  the  world  to-day  need  to  see 
and  value  the  church  as  God  sees  and  values  it;  then 
they  could  not  be  indifferent  toward  it. 

Paul,  furthermore,  shows  that  God  chose  and  planned 
the  church  "  in  Christ.”  This  phrase  appears  in  almost 
every  clause  of  his  long  statement  of  the  plan  of  the 
church,  and  explains,  as  far  as  can  be  explained,  all  the 
mysteries  of  His  plans.  He  “  blessed  us  in  Christ;”  He 
“  chose  us  in  Christ ;”  He  “  adopted  us  through  Christ 
He  “  freely  bestowed  his  grace  upon  us  in  Christ He 
“  redeemed  us  in  Christ ;”  He  “  forgave  us  in  Christ ;” 
He  “  purposed,”  or  planned  beforehand  every  thing  in 
Christ ;  and  “summed  up  all  things  in  Christ  ”  In  other 
words,  Christ  is  the  final  explanation  and  sum  of  every 
thing  in  the  world,  of  every  thing  that  God  has  done  in 
time  and  eternity;  and  no  thing  or  fact  can  be  under¬ 
stood  and  explained,  except  it  be  seen  in  connection  with 


t 


THE  CHURCH  PLANNED 


49 


Christ.  He  is  the  explanation  of  foreordination  and  pre¬ 
destination  as  well  as  every  other  plan  and  purpose 
of  God. 

While  God  chose  those  in  Christ  and  made  his  plans 
for  the  church  before  the  foundation  of  the  world ;  yet 
it  required  centuries  and  ages  for  the  full  development 
and  unfolding  of  these  plans.  This  awaited  “  a  dispensa¬ 
tion  of  the  fullness  of  the  times,”  when  all  things  were 
ready  for  the  full  revelation  of  these  plans.  Thereupon 
Christ  came  to  earth  in  human  form  to  reveal  and  ex¬ 
ecute  God’s  plans  for  the  redemption  of  the  race ;  and 
to  this  end  he  announced  the  establishment  of  the  church, 
saying,  “  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church ;  and  the 
gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail  against  it.”  The  church 
then  was  planned  to  prevail  against  all  the  opposition  of 
the  powers  of  the  evil  world ;  and  during  the  first  cen¬ 
turies  of  its  history  it  did  triumph  over  all  the  hosts  of 
the  prince  of  this  world.  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  written 
by  Luke,  record  the  history  of  these  early  victories ;  but 
finally  Satan  succeeded  in  dividing  the  church ;  and  since 
then  its  victories  have  not  been  so  great,  because  only 
through  unity  can  there  be  complete  victory.  Fortu¬ 
nately,  however,  the  builders  of  the  church  left  plans  and 
directions  for  the  restoration  of  unity  in  the  church ;  and 
to  this  end  Paul,  the  wise  master-builder  of  the  church, 
anticipating  the  needs  of  the  church  along  this  line,  wrote 
the  Ephesian  letter,  teaching  us  how  to  secure  and  main¬ 
tain  unity  in  the  church. 

Thus  all  God’s  plans  for  the  race  found  full  realization 
in  Christ, — “  to  sum  all  things  in  Christ,”  as  Paul  ex¬ 
presses  it,  or,  as  translated  by  some,  “  all  things  were 
gathered  up,  or  reunited  in  Christ,”  which  shows  that  all 
things  were  centered  in  Christ,  and  reunited  in  the 
church,  all  of  which  calls  for  unity  in  the  church. 


50 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


Paul  states  also  that  all  the  plans  and  purposes  of  God 
were,  “  to  the  end  that  we  should  be  unto  the  praise  of 
his  glory;  we  (Jews),  who  had  before  hoped  in  Christ, 
in  whom  ye  (the  Gentiles)  also,  having  heard  the  word 
of  truth,  the  Gospel  of  your  salvation,  were  sealed  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise.”  So  then,  this  church 
planned  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
was  for  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  for  all  ages  and  races 
of  men.  This  was  not  true  of  the  Mosaic  “  church  in 
the  wilderness,”  which  was  for  Jews  only,  the  blood  de¬ 
scendants  of  Abraham;  but  in  Christ  God  planned  and 
built  a  church  for  all,  which  Paul  reveals  as  such  in  the 
first  half  of  his  letter  to  the  Ephesians.  Accordingly,  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  beginning  day  of  this  church, 
Peter,  to  whom  Christ  gave  “  the  keys  of  the  kingdom,” 
opened  the  doors  of  this  church  to  the  Jews;  and  at  the 
house  of  Cornelius  a  short  time  later  he  did  the  same 
for  the  Gentiles ;  and  since  then  it  has  been  the  church 
for  all ;  and  all  people  “  out  of  every  nation  and  of  all 
tribes  and  peoples  and  tongues”  have  continued  to  pour 
into  it,  and  it  has  been  truly  a  cosmopolitan  church,  The 
Church  For  All. 

However,  it  required  many  years  to  convince  the  Jews 
that  the  church  of  Christ  is  for  all,  in  fact,  many  of  them 
were  never  convinced.  They  had  been  so  long  accus¬ 
tomed  to  the  seclusive  and  exclusive  Mosaic  church  that 
they  were  unable  to  comprehend  a  cosmopolitan  church 
such  as  the  church  of  Christ.  It  took  a  miracle  to  con¬ 
vince  Peter,  to  whom  was  committed  the  keys  of  the 
church ;  and  he  in  turn  had  much  trouble  in  convincing 
his  apostolic  contemporaries. 

Furthermore,  the  Jewish  church  had  been  divided  into 
many  seclusive  and  exclusive  sects ;  and  these  divisions 
were  destructive  of  the  idea  of  universality  and  unity 


THE  CHURCH  PLANNED 


51 


in  a  church.  There  was  from  the  very  beginning  a  Juda- 
izing  element  in  the  church  that  sought  to  make  the 
church  Jewish  and  to  drive  the  Gentiles  into  a  separate 
church;  but  against  all  such  sectarianism  Paul  stood  out 
always  in  bold  opposition,  and  declared  for  the  univer¬ 
sality  and  unity  of  the  church  of  Christ,  which  consti¬ 
tutes  the  major  theme  of  his  letter  to  the  Ephesians. 

There  is  a  great  need  to-day  of  re-emphasizing  this 
universality  and  unity  of  the  church  of  Christ.  Sectarian 
denominations  have  become  so  numerous  and  exclusive 
of  each  other  that  the  unity  and  the  universality  of  the 
church  have  been  greatly  obscured  and  largely  forgotten. 
We  need  to  see  The  Church  For  All ,  planned  by  God, 
executed  by  Christ  and  established  by  the  Apostles,  a 
'truly  cosmopolitan  united  church.  The  sectarian  concep¬ 
tion  of  the  church  to-day  is  small,  often  limited  to  the 
little  sect  to  which  the  member  belongs ;  and  the  idea  of 
unity  has  largely  been  lost.  Accordingly,  many  sectarians 
speak  of  their  sect  as  "  the  church  of  Christ.”  They  had 
as  well  fill  a  bathtub  with  water  and  call  it  the  ocean 
as  to  attempt  to  limit  the  church  of  Christ,  which  is  for 
all,  to  such  narrow  boundaries.  Nor  is  Christian  unity 
a  unity  of  any  sect  or  sects,  but  a  unity  of  all  the 
disciples  of  Christ.  We  need  to  get  back  to  the  original 
universality  and  unity  of  the  church  as  set  forth  by  Paul 
in  the  letter  under  study. 


VI 


THE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH 

FOR  this  cause  I  also,  having  heard  of  the  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  which  is  among  you,  and  the  love  which  you 
show  toward  all  the  saints,  cease  not  to  give  thanks  for 
you,  making  mention  of  you  in  my  prayers;  that  the  God 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  glory,  may  give  unto 
you  a  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  him; 
having  the  eyes  of  your  hearts  enlightened,  that  you  may  know 
what  is  the  hope  of  his  calling,  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of 
his  inheritance  in  the  saints,  and  what  the  exceeding  greatness 
of  his  power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  according  to  that  working 
of  the  strength  of  his  might,  which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when 
he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  made  him  to  sit  at  his  right 
hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  rule,  and  authority, 
and  power,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not 
only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come;  and  he 
put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be 
head  over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  full¬ 
ness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all.”  1:15-23. 

In  the  above  paragraph  Paul  sets  forth  the  head  of 
this  church  for  all,  which  was  planned  by  God  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  The  head  of  an  institution  is 
of  first  importance  and  consideration  in  planning  and 
building,  wherefore  Paul  sets  out  first  the  head  of  the 
church.  “  For  this  cause,”  namely,  that  Jesus  Christ  is, 
as  set  forth  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  the  explanation 
and  sum  of  all  things,  “  I  make  mention  of  you  in  my 
prayers  that  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Father  of  glory,  may  give  unto  you  a  spirit  of  wisdom 
and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  him,”  that  they  may 

be  able  to  comprehend  Christ  and  thereby  know  the  plans 

,  52 


THE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH 


53 


and  purposes  of  God.  For  this  understanding  there  are 
three  essentials  as  follows : 

(1)  “Wisdom,” — intellectual  comprehension  and  in¬ 

formation. 

(2)  “  Revelation,” — from  God  as  to  the  nature  and 

character  of  Christ. 

(3)  “The  eyes  of  your  heart  enlightened,” — because 

Christ  is  “  spiritually  discerned  ”  with  the  eyes 

of  the  soul. 

With  these  three  essentials  one  may  “  know  the  hope  of 
his  calling,  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in 
the  saints  and  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power, 
*  *  *  which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he  raised 

,him  from  the  dead.”  This  Christ,  who  is  the  explana¬ 
tion  and  sum  of  all  things,  God  placed  in  supreme  “  au¬ 
thority,  rule,  and  dominion  far  above  all,”  and  made  him 
to  be  the  head  of  the  church. 

Inasmuch  as  this  church  is  for  all,  it  must,  therefore, 
have  a  head  that  satisfies  all.  A  universal  church  with¬ 
out  an  all-sufficient  and  all-satisfying  head  would  have 
been  an  early  and  certain  failure.  Wherefore,  God 
selected  Christ  Jesus  to  be  the  head,  who  is  “  of  the  full¬ 
ness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all,”  “  the  effulgence  of 
his  glory  and  the  very  image  of  his  substance,”  and  “  in 
whom  dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.” 
Surely  then,  such  a  head  satisfies  all,  for  no  fault  can 
be  found  with  such  a  being  as  head  of  the  church.  In 
fact,  he  is  eminently  qualified  both  by  nature  and  training 
to  be  the  head  of  the  world  church. 

Note,  furthermore,  that  Christ  is  the  real  head  and 
not  the  mere  figurehead  of  the  church,  as  many  of  his 
followers  would  make  him.  He  was  given  supreme  au¬ 
thority,  “  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which 


54 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


is  to  come.”  Peter  failed  to  get  this  lesson  even  on  the 
mount  of  transfiguration.  He  wanted  to  put  Moses  and 
Elijah  on  equal  authority  with  Christ  by  building  a  taber¬ 
nacle  to  each;  but  God  spoke  out  of  the  heavens,  saying, 
“  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ; 
hear  ye  him.”  He  is  placed  in  supreme  authority  over 
Moses  and  Elijah  and  all  other  heads  of  the  church  in 
the  past;  and  in  the  future  he  is  to  be  heard  over  all. 
This  was  a  distinct  shock  to  the  Jews,  who  held  Moses 
and  the  Prophets  in  highest  authority ;  and  many  of  them 
took  offense  at  Christ’s  assumption  of  supreme  authority ; 
and  he  thereby  became  “  a  rock  of  stumbling  ”  unto  them. 
In  the  foundation  of  this  new  spiritual  Temple,  the 
world-church,  they  rejected  “  the  head  or  chief  corner¬ 
stone.”  Even  after  the  establishment  of  the  church  there 
were  Judaizers  in  the  church,  who  attempted  to  place 
Moses  on  equal  authority  with  Christ ;  but  those  inspired 
to  speak  the  word  of  God  always  spoke  out  against  such 
action;  however,  it  took  a  long  time  and  much  teaching 
on  this  point  to  divorce  the  Jews  from  Moses  and  wed 
them  to  Christ  as  the  supreme  and  only  head  of  the 
church. 

Now,  if  neither  Moses  nor  any  of  the  Prophets  was 
allowed  to  share  the  authority  of  Christ  as  head  of  the 
church,  then  there  is  even  less  grounds  for  anyone’s 
claim  to-day  to  be  the  earthly  head  of  the  church ;  how¬ 
ever  some  to-day  are  disposed  to  assume  this  authority 
under  the  claim  and  office  of  Pope,  Bishop,  Presbyter, 
Elder,  Editor,  etc. ;  but  Paul  left  no  place  for  any  such 
ecclesiastical  authority  in  the  church.  Christ  and  Christ 
alone  was  made  the  head  of  the  church  in  this  world  as 
well  as  the  world  to  come;  and,  whenever  anyone  else 
assumes  to  be  the  earthly  head  of  the  church,  or  to  share 
in  any  way  this  supreme  authority,  trouble  and  division 


THE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH 


55 


result,  because  Christ  is  the  only  head  that  can  satisfy 
all.  This  was  the  cause  of  first  division  in  the  church; 
and  there  is  no  truth  that  the  people  to-day  need  more 
to  realize  than  the  absolute  and  exclusive  supremacy  of 
Christ  as  head  of  the  church.  He  never  appointed  or 
delegated  anyone  to  be  the  earthly  head  of  the  church  in 
his  absence.  Not  even  one  of  his  inspired  apostles  ever 
made  such  a  claim  for  himself.  Paul  always  spoke  of 
himself  as  “  the  apostle  and  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,”  and 
never  assumed  any  authority  beyond  being  the  mere 
spokesman  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  revelation  of  the  will 
of  God,  for  which  he  was  ready  at  all  times  to  give  his 
credentials,  no  one  of  which  can  any  professed  earthly 
representative  of  Christ  to-day  give.  So,  therefore,  let 
.all  presumptive  earthly  heads  of  the  church  to-day  step 
down  in  deference  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Christ  as 
the  head  of  the  church,  and  the  cause  of  unity  will  be 
greatly  advanced  thereby,  because  a  church  for  all  must 
have  a  head  that  satisfies  all. 

Note  also  that  Christ  is  “  head  over  all  things  to  the 
church,”  over  the  little  things  as  well  as  the  big  things. 
While  no  one  would  assume  any  authority  with  respect 
to  the  great  and  important  things  of  the  church,  yet  many 
do  not  hesitate  to  take  control  and  supervision  of  the 
small  matters ;  but  after  all  it  is  the  little  things  that 
really  test  one's  loyalty ;  and  besides  no  matter  upon 
which  Jesus  Christ  has  spoken  can  be  called  a  small 
thing.  For  instance,  some  ecclesiastical  authorities,  look¬ 
ing  upon  the  organization  and  ordinances  of  the  church 
as  small  matters,  have  changed  these  from  what  Christ 
and  his  apostles  prescribed,  on  the  grounds  that  these 
things  are  non-essentials,  and,  therefore,  subject  to  the 
authorities  that  be  in  the  church  to-day ;  but  remember 
“God  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet;”  and 


56 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


“  who  art  thou,  O  man,”  to  assume  authority  over  even 
the  least  things  that  were  committed  to  Christ?  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  no  better  way  to  manifest  one’s  sub¬ 
jection  and  loyalty  to  Christ  as  head  of  the  church  than 
by  a  strict  compliance  to  the  seemingly  small  things  of 
the  church.  This  was  the  cause  of  Saul’s  downfall.  He 
was  subject  to  God  in  all  things  except  what  he  con¬ 
sidered  small  matters;  yet  God  rejected  him  from  being 
king  because  of  his  failure  to  obey  these  small  com¬ 
mands.  Likewise,  Christians  are  required  to  “  hearken 
unto  Christ,  the  prophet  like  unto  Moses,  in  all  things 
whatsoever  he  shall  speak ;  and  it  shall  be  that  every  soul 
that  shall  not  hearken  unto  that  prophet  shall  be  utterly 
destroyed  from  the  people.”  Such  a  recognition  of  the 
absolute  supremacy  of  Jesus  Christ  as  “  head  over  all 
things  to  the  church  ”  is  greatly  needed  to-day  to  restore 
unity  in  the  church ;  and  to  this  end  Christ  must  be  made 
the  real  head  of  the  church. 


i 


VII 


TERMS  OF  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  CHURCH 

AND  you  did  he  make  alive,  when  ye  were  dead  through 
your  trespasses  and  sins,  wherein  ye  once  walked  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  course  of  this  world,  according  to  the 
prince  of  the  powers  of  the  air,  of  the  spirit  that  now 
worketh  in  the  sons  of  disobedience ;  among  whom  we  also  all 
lived  in  the  lusts  of  your  flesh,  doing  the  desires  of  the  flesh 
and  of  the  mind,  and  were  by  nature  children  of  wrath,  even 
as  the  rest : — but  God,  being  rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great  love 
wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  through  our 
trespasses,  made  us  alive  together  with  Christ  (by  grace  have 
we  been  saved),  and  raised  us  up  with  him,  and  made  us  to  sit 
with  him  in  the  heavenly  places,  in  Christ  Jesus:  that  in  all  the 
ages  to  come  he  might  show  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace 
in  kindness  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus:  for  by  grace  have  ye 
been  saved  through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the 
gift  of  God;  not  of  works,  that  no  man  should  glory.  For  we 
are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works, 
which  God  afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them.” 
2:1-10. 

In  the  above  paragraph  Paul  sets  forth  the  conditions 
of  entrance  into  the  church.  In  as  much  as  the  church, 
of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  head,  is  for  all,  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles,  the  conditions  of  entrance  into  this  church 
must  be  such  as  will  admit  all.  The  conditions  of  en¬ 
trance  into  the  Jewish  church  under  Moses,  “  the  church 
in  the  wilderness,”  did  not  admit  all  on  the  same  terms, 
because  it  was  for  the  Jews  only.  Furthermore,  in  as 
much  as  the  church  includes  all  the  saved  through  Christ, 
the  conditions  of  entrance  into  the  church  must  be  the 
same  as  the  conditions  of  salvation.  These  conditions  of 
salvation  and  entrance  into  the  church  were  therefore 

made  to  admit  all,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  upon  the  same 

57 


58 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


terms,  which  Paul  sets  forth  in  the  above  paragraph. 
Paul  shows  that  neither  the  Jews  nor  the  Gentiles  could 
enter  on  the  grounds  of  merit,  because  the  Gentiles  were 
“  dead  through  their  trespasses  and  sins,”  and  the  Jews 
were  by  conduct  and  nature  “  children  of  wrath,  even  as 
the  rest.”  Both  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles  were  alike 
under  the  condemnation  of  sin,  as  Paul  shows  in  more 
detail  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans,  and,  therefore,  ex¬ 
cluded  on  the  grounds  of  meritorious  works.  “  But  God, 
being  rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great  love,  wherewith  he 
loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  through  our  tres¬ 
passes  made  us  alive  together  with  Christ  (by  grace  have 
ye  been  saved).”  Accordingly,  God  had  mercy  on  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  saved  both  alike  by  His  grace, 
which  admitted  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  on  the  same 
terms. 

Having  set  forth  grace  as  the  general  condition  oU 
salvation  and  entrance  into  the  church,  Paul  adds  the 
specific  conditions,  “  faith  ”  and  “  good  works.”  The 
general  condition  of  grace,  or  mercy  would  admit  all  men 
irrespective  of  conduct  and  character,  because  “  God 
would  have  all  men  saved,  and  come  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth ;”  but  salvation  is  further  conditioned  by 
“  faith,”  which  limits  salvation  to  those  that  believe,  and 
also  by  “  good  works,”  which  further  limit  the  saved  to 
those  that  do  good.  Paul,  however,  is  careful  in  drawing 
the  distinction  between  meritorious  faith  and  good  works 
of  the  law  on  the  one  hand  and  good  works  of  faith  and 
obedience  on  the  other  hand.  Lest  some  one  might  con¬ 
clude  that  we  are  meritoriously  saved  by  faith,  that  is, 
merely  because  we  believe,  Paul  adds,  “  and  that  not  of 
yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God;”  and,  lest  some  one 
think  that  we  are  saved  because  of  our  good  works  on 
the  grounds  of  merit,  he  adds,  “  not  of  good  works  that 


TERMS  OF  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  CHURCH  59 


no  man  should  glory.”  This,  however,  does  not  exclude 
Christian  good  works  of  faith  and  obedience,  for  which 
Paul  says,  “  we  were  created  in  Christ  Jesus,  which  God 
afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them.”  These 
good  works  are  made  conditions  of  salvation  and  en¬ 
trance  into  the  church ;  and,  that  we  might  know  what 
these  good  works  are,  God  sent  Jesus  Christ  into  the 
world  the  prophet  like  unto  Moses,  to  make  known  to 
all  the  way  of  salvation;  and  whatever  he  prescribed  to 
be  done  is  required  of  all  who  would  be  saved,  and  enter 
the  church.  See  Acts  3  :  22-23. 

The  question  as  to  the  conditions  of  entrance  into  the 
church  has  greatly  disturbed,  and  often  divided  the 
church ;  and  the  different  views  and  teaching  on  this  sub¬ 
ject  have  been  the  cause  of  much  strife  and  division. 
Some  have  taught  that  the  conditions  of  entrance  into 
the  church  are  different  from  the  conditions  of  salvation. 
Accordingly,  they  make  baptism  the  means,  or  door  of 
entrance  into  the  church,  and  then  take  a  vote  of  the 
church  to  receive.  Baptism  is  a  means  of  entrance  into 
the  church,  I  Cor.  12:13;  but  it  is  also  a  condition  of 
salvation.  Mark  16:16;  Acts  2:38;  I  Pet.  3:21.  Like¬ 
wise  every  other  condition  of  entrance  into  the  church 
is  made  a  condition  of  salvation.  The  conditions  that 
save  automatically  and  simultaneously  enter  into  the 
church,  as  they  evidently  did  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
“  The  Lord  added  to  them  day  by  day  those  that  were 
being  saved.”  Acts  2:47.  When  a  person  complied 
with  the  prescribed  conditions  of  salvation,  the  Lord 
added  him  to  the  church,  so  no  ordinance  or  vote  of  the 
church  puts  one  into  the  church ;  but  Christ  alone  adds 
to  the  church  those  that  are  saved ;  He  alone  is  the  door 
into  the  church  (see  John  10:  1-9)  ;  and  He  alone  ad¬ 
mits  and  excludes  from  the  same.  It  is  man’s  part  to 


60 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


comply  with  the  conditions  of  salvation,  prescribed  by 
the  Lord,  and  thereby  present  himself  for  entrance  into 
his  church.  Allowing  the  Lord  to  thus  enter  all  into  the 
church  eliminates  all  ecclesiastical  entrances  by  voting 
or  by  opening  the  doors  by  priest  or  minister ;  and  what 
the  Lord  does  ought  to  satisfy  all,  and  restore  unity  in 
the  churches  disturbed  and  divided  over  this  question. 

But  the  church  has  been  disturbed  and  divided  over 
the  conditions  of  salvation,  which  present  one  for  en¬ 
trance  into  the  church.  Some  have  held  to  “  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  salvation  by  grace  alone,”  which  Paul  makes  the 
general  condition  of  salvation,  and  have  ignored  the 
specific  conditions,  “  faith  ”  and  “  good  works,”  which 
Paul  also  prescribes  as  conditions  of  salvation,  and  have 
thereby  missed  the  full  teaching  of  Paul  on  this  sub¬ 
ject.  Whereas,  an  acceptance  and  compliance  with  both 
the  general  condition  of  salvation,  “  grace,”  and  the 
specific  conditions,  “  faith  ”  and  “  good  works,”  on  the 
part  of  all  would  settle  this  question,  and  restore  unity  in 
the  church  at  this  point. 

But  what  faith  and  what  good  works  are  made  con¬ 
ditions  of  salvation  and  entrance  into  the  church?  For¬ 
tunately,  inspired  teachers  have  settled  these  disturbing 
questions  for  us  also.  That  “Jesus  is  the  Christ  the 
Son  of  the  living  God,”  is  the  faith  (see  Mat.  16:  16-18; 
John  11:27;  Acts  9:37;  16:31);  and  the  good  works 
are  defined  in  the  following :  “  All  things  whatsoever  he 
(Jesus)  shall  speak  unto  you.”  Acts  3:22-23.  How¬ 
ever,  none  of  these  things  should  be  exalted  and  empha¬ 
sized  above  others,  or  ignored  as  has  been  the  case  with 
baptism,  one  of  the  things  spoken  or  commanded  by 
Jesus.  Mat.  28:19.  Some  have  overemphasized  this 
command  by  their  much  preaching  on  this  subject  to  the 
neglect  of  other  things ;  and  others  have  ignored  it  as  a 


TERMS  OF  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  CHURCH  61 


non-essential,  notwithstanding  Jesus  makes  it  a  condition 
of  salvation.  Mark  16:  16.  Consequently,  these  extreme 
and  divergent  positions  on  baptism  have  caused  trouble 
and  division  in  the  church;  whereas,  if  it  had  been  ac¬ 
cepted  and  followed  by  all  simply  as  a  command  of  the 
Lord,  or  one  of  the  good  works  of  faith  and  obedience, 
there  would  have  been  unity  in  the  church  at  this  point, 
which  would  bring  great  peace  to  the  same. 

In  conclusion,  Paul  must  have  realized  the  trouble  that 
the  church  would  have  over  the  conditions  of  salvation 
or  entrance  into  the  church,  wherefore  he  made  these 
conditions  plain  and  simple,  namely,  “  grace,”  “  faith  ” 
and  “  good  works and  accordingly  all  those  that  accept 
and  comply  with  these  conditions  are  saved,  and  there¬ 
upon  added  by  the  Lord  to  His  church ;  and  then  there 
is  unity  in  the  church  as  to  this  question  as  well  as  all 
others,  about  which  the  Lord  has  spoken.  Wherefore 
Paul,  in  outlining  the  church  for  all ,  prescribed  condi¬ 
tions  of  entrance  that  would  admit  all  upon  the  same 
terms,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles;  and  he  thereby  opened  up 
the  way  whereby  all  may  come  together  and  dwell  to¬ 
gether  in  the  church  for  all. 


VIII 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

WHEREFORE  remember,  that  once  ye,  the  Gentiles 
in  the  flesh,  who  were  called  Uncircumcision  by  that 
which  is  called  Circumcision,  in  the  flesh,  made  by 
hands ;  that  ye  at  that  time  were  separate  from  Christ, 
alienated  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  from 
the  covenants  of  promise,  having  no  hope  and  without  God  in 
the  world.  But  now  in  Christ  Jesus  ye  that  once  were  far  off 
are  made  nigh  in  the  blood  of  Christ.  For  he  is  our  peace,  who 
made  both  one,  and  brake  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition, 
having  abolished  in  his  flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of  com¬ 
mandments  contained  in  ordinances ;  that  he  might  create  in  him¬ 
self  of  the  two  one  new  man,  so  making  peace;  and  might 
reconcile  them  both  in  one  body  unto  God  through  the  cross, 
having  slain  the  enmity  thereby :  and  he  came  and  preached  peace 
to  you  that  were  far  off,  and  peace  to  them  that  were  nigh :  for 
through  him  we  both  have  our  access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the 
Father.  So  then  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  sojourners,  but 
ye  are  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of 
God,  being  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone  in  whom  each 
several  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  into  a  holy 
temple  in  the  Lord ;  in  whom  ye  also  are  budded  together  for 
a  habitation  of  God  in  the  Spirit.”  2:11-22. 

The  above  paragraph  contains  Paul’s  plan  for  uniting 
the  church.  Inasmuch  as  the  church  is  for  all,  and  sal¬ 
vation  and  entrance  into  the  church  are  offered  to  all  on 
the  same  terms,  consequently  all  kinds  and  classes,  races 
and  colors,  sects  and  parties  are  gathered  together  in  the 
church,  which  necessitates  a  plan  for  uniting  this  mixed 
multitude.  When  Peter  opened  the  doors  of  the  church 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  the  Jews  and  to  the  Gentiles 
at  the  house  of  Cornelius,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  poured 
into  the  church  from  all  the  religious  sects  and  parties 
among  them;  and  the  church  became  a  mixed  assembly 

62 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  63 


of  all  the  religious  elements  in  the  world.  The  church, 
however,  was  not  intended  to  be  a  conglomerate  mass  of 
discordant  religious  elements  but  a  harmonious  union  of 
all  integral  parts,  which  necessitated  a  plan  for  uniting  all 
the  religious  sects  and  parties  that  came  into  the  church. 
The  merging  of  these  into  one  harmonious  whole  was  the 
stupendous  task  of  the  Apostolic  church.  The  Apostle 
Paul  was  the  chosen  leader  in  uniting  the  Jews  and  Gen¬ 
tiles  ;  and  fortunately  he  left  on  record,  as  quoted  above, 
his  plan  for  uniting  them.  While  this  union  was  slow  in 
progress,  and  much  teaching  and  diplomacy  were  re¬ 
quired  to  bring  them  together,  nevertheless  they  were 
finally  united  in  one  harmonious  body,  and  continued  so 
for  four  hundred  years.  Now,  a  plan  that  united  all 
,the  sects  and  parties  among  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  who 
were  poles  apart,  and  hated  each  other  with  all  the  ani¬ 
mosity  and  bitterness,  of  which  the  human  soul  is  capable, 
can  do  the  same  for  the  sects  in  the  church  to-day;  and 
to  this  end  we  propose  in  this  chapter  a  study  and  appli¬ 
cation  of  Paul’s  plan  for  unity  to  the  divided  church  of 
to-day. 

Before  Christian  unity  can  be  made  practical,  a  prac¬ 
tical  plan,  by  which,  and  upon  which,  all  Christians  can 
unite,  must  be  found.  This  seems  to  be  the  one  thing 
lacking  to-day  to  make  unity  practicable.  In  answer  to 
this  demand  for  a  practical  plan  for  Christian  unity,  five 
plans  have  so  far  been  offered.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  proposes  a  return  to  the  mother  church,  where, 
they  claim,  there  was  unity  until  Luther  and  other  re¬ 
formers  broke  it  up.  This  plan  would  undoubtedly 
secure  unity,  but  it  would  do  so  at  the  price  of  two 
things  in  the  world  that  are  worth  more  than  unity; 
namely,  loyalty  and  liberty,  without  which  it  would  not 
be  Christian  unity ;  and  besides,  such  a  unity  would  not 


64 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


satisfy  the  requirements  of  Scriptural  faith,  and  could 
not,  therefore,  be  Scriptural  unity.  The  Episcopalians 
also  have  a  plan  to  bring  the  Christian  world  together. 
The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  always  claimed  to 
be  a  sort  of  half-way  house  between  Catholicism  and 
Protestantism,  and  has  hoped  to  bring  Rome  down  and 
Geneva  up  to  this  common  level;  and  to  this  end  this 
communion  offers  what  is  known  as  the  Lambeth  Quadri¬ 
lateral  as  a  practical  plan  for  Christian  unity.  But  one 
of  the  items  in  this  plan  is  the  Historic  Bishopric,  or 
Apostolic  Succession,  which  excludes  its  acceptance  by  all 
congregational  or  democratic  communions.  The  Presby¬ 
terians,  Congregationalists  and  Methodists  propose  a 
federation  of  all  the  churches,  which,  of  course,  is  not 
unity  at  all,  and,  for  this  reason,  has  not  been  seriously 
considered  by  the  churches.  Another  plan,  first  proposed 
by  the  Campbells  and  advocated  to  the  present  by  those 
committed  to  this  plan,  is  a  restoration  of  the  apostolic 
church  and  unity  upon  the  same.  But  there  have  arisen 
differences  as  to  what  the  apostolic  church  was  in  all  re¬ 
spects,  and  some  doubt  the  propriety  of  restoring  the 
apostolic  church  in  some  respects,  so  this  plan  has  so 
far  failed  to  unite  the  churches.  The  latest  plan  to  be 
offered  is  the  Philadelphia  Plan,  recently  formulated  and 
adopted  by  representatives  of  many  of  the  leading  de¬ 
nominations  assembled  in  Philadelphia  to  devise  a  plan 
for  unity.  This  plan  provides  for  what  some  consider  a 
super-church  with  governmental  authority,  to  which 
many  communions  object,  and  are  not  likely  to  accept. 
In  fact,  there  have  been  more  or  less  criticisms  and  ob¬ 
jections  to  all  the  plans ;  and  all  have  so  far  failed  to 
unite  the  church.  There  is  much  to  be  commended  and 
accepted  in  all  the  above  plans;  but  all  of  them  together 
have  so  far  failed  to  bring  the  churches  into  any  visible 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  65 


unity ;  however  they  have  taught  us  some  very  important 
lessons. 

In  the  first  place,  the  failure  of  the  above  plans  has 
taught  us  that  Christian  unity  can  not  be  an  ecclesiasti- 
cism,  where  one  man  or  a  number  of  men  constitute  the 
head  of  the  church ;  that  has  always  been  religious 
tyranny  and  spiritual  despotism.  Not  a  union  of  de¬ 
nominations,  where  one  denomination  swallows  up  all  the 
others  ,*  that  would  be  a  denominational  monster,  or  mon¬ 
strosity.  Not  a  federation  of  sects,  where  each  sect  is 
fitted  into  its  allotted  niche  and  place,  and  agrees  to 
occupy  as  little  space  as  possible;  that  would  be  stagna¬ 
tion  and  death.  Not  an  aggregation  of  unreconciled 
sects,  where  each  has  signed  an  armistice  ;  that  has  always 
resulted  in  renewed  hostilities.  Not  a  peace  by  compro¬ 
mise,  where  all  agree  to  maintain  a  respectful  silence  such 
as  the  tombs  of  a  graveyard;  that  would  be  a  living 
death.  Not  a  bargain,  where  one  thing  is  given  up  by 
one,  and  another  thing  is  given  up  in  return  by  another; 
that  would  be  selling  out.  Not  a  forced  union,  where  all 
speak  the  same  thing  through  slavish  fear;  that  would 
be  a  new  edition  of  “  The  Book  of  Martyrs/’  Not  a  uni¬ 
formity  of  opinions,  where  each  one  sneezes  when  the 
other  takes  snuff ;  that  would  be  religious  hypocrisy.  Not 
a  union  of  all  the  theories  and  philosophies  of  the  relig¬ 
ious  thinkers  and  dreamers  of  the  past ;  that  would  be 
a  religious  museum.  Not  a  union  of  all  the  modern  cults 
and  isms ;  that  would  be  fanaticism,  of  which  the  world  is 
full  already.  Not  a  union  in  theory  or  name  only;  but 
a  real,  practical,  organic  union  of  the  dismembered  parts 
of  the  divided  body  of  Christ;  and  that  which  is  needed 
most  to  effect  such  a  union  is  a  practical,  acceptable  plan. 

In  view  of  the  failure  of  the  above  plans,  which  were 
wrought  out  of  the  best  thought  and  experience  of  the 


66 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


past,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  churches  of  to-day 
have  no  other  to  offer,  where  shall  we  look  for  a  better 
plan?  When  we  have  exhausted  all  human  resources  of 
the  past  and  the  present,  where  do  we  usually  look  for 
help  ?  “  My  help  cometh  from  Jehovah,  who  made  heaven 
and  earth.”  Yes,  but  God  has  not  given  us  any  help  at 
this  point ;  He  has  left  us  in  the  darkness  to  find  our  way 
out  of  the  confusion  of  division  into  the  light  of  unity.  If 
this  be  true,  Christian  unity  is  indeed  a  hopeless  under¬ 
taking.  However,  is  it  not  strange  that  Christ  would 
have  prayed  for  the  unity  of  all  His  disciples,  and  com¬ 
manded  them  to  work  for  the  same,  without  giving  them 
some  plan  and  basis  for  unity?  Furthermore,  if  “  the 
scriptures  furnish  us  completely  unto  every  good  work,” 
as  Paul  says  they  do,  is  it  not  strange  that  they  do  not 
give  us  a  practical  working  plan  for  Christian  unity,  the 
greatest  of  good  works?  To  be  sure,  they  do  give  a  plan 
for  unity,  as  stated  by  Paul  in  the  above  paragraph,  which 
we  now  propose  to  study.  Inasmuch  as  a  plan  for  unity 
is  the  one  thing  needed  to-day  to  realize  Christian  unity, 
Paul’s  plan  will  be  considered  in  detail,  which  will  make 
this  chapter  of  considerable  length ;  but  the  whole  plan 
will  be  crowded  into  one  chapter  in  order  to  preserve  the 
unity  of  this  plan. 

Paul’s  plan  for  Christian  unity  maintains  the  strictest 
Christian  loyalty,  yet  grants  the  largest  liberty,  and  in¬ 
sures  the  fullest  unity.  An  analytical  study  of  this  plan 
will  show  that  it  contains  seven  basic  items  or  funda¬ 
mental  principles  (a  heptagon  instead  of  a  quadrilateral), 
the  first  of  which  is, 

A  Common  Standard  of  Authority 

“For  he  [Christ]  is  our  peace ,  who  made  both  [Jews 
and  Gentiles]  one”  The  only  way  that  peace  can  be 


THE  PLAN  FOE  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  67 


made  between  religious  sects  is  by  bringing  them  to  agree, 
“  for  how  can  two  walk  together,  except  they  agree  ?  ” 
and  the  only  way  to  bring  them  to  agree  is  to  bring  them 
to  accept  a  common  standard  of  religious  authority,  be¬ 
cause  without  such  a  standard  there  is  no  point  of  contact 
or  common  ground  on  which  to  stand.  As  long  as  the 
Jews  had  one  religious  standard,  and  the  Gentiles  an¬ 
other,  there  was  no  hope  of  peace  and  unity  among  them, 
so  Paul  brought  both  to  accept  Christ  as  their  peace,  or 
common  standard  of  authority,  which  made  both  one. 
Paul  did  not  call  an  assembly  and  conference  of  all  the 
religious  leaders  and  authorities  of  that  day  to  discuss 
Moses  and  the  prophets  and  Socrates  and  Baal,  to  see 
how  much  they  held  in  common,  thereby  hoping  to  formu¬ 
late  a  common  standard  that  all  could  accept  and  unite 
upon ;  but  he  set  up  a  new  standard  of  religious  authority, 
Christ  Jesus,  and  brought  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  to  ac¬ 
cept  Him  as  “their  peace,”  or  common  standard  of  author¬ 
ity  in  all  matters  of  religion,  and  thereby  “  made  both 
one.”  The  acceptance  of  Christ  by  all  sects  as  the  com¬ 
mon  standard  of  authority  in  religion  is,  therefore,  the 
first  step  in  Paul’s  plan  for  Christian  unity.  But  do  not 
all  Christian  sects  to-day  so  accept  Christ?  Yes,  theoretic¬ 
ally  they  do ;  but  really  they  do  not.  Christ  said,  “  All 
authority  in  heaven  and  earth  is  given  unto  me;”  and 
Paul  said,  “  He  is  head  over  all  things  to  the  church.” 
These  words  do  not  permit  of  any  divided  or  delegated 
authority,  such  as  claimed  by  the  Pope,  the  bishop,  the 
editor  of  the  church  paper,  or  any  other  modern  ecclesi¬ 
astical  authority  that  claims  to  speak  with  authority  for 
the  church.  Christ,  and  Christ  alone,  is  our  peace,  or 
common  standard  of  authority.  But  Christ  is  not  here 
to-day  to  speak  His  mind  and  thereby  make  peace,  so, 
therefore,  can  not  be  our  real  or  visible  standard  of 


68 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


authority.  Neither  was  He  here  in  Paul’s  day;  yet  He 
was  their  “  peace.”  Paul,  in  discussing  the  religious 
standards  of  his  day,  says,  “  The  Jews  seek  after  a  sign  ” 
— the  supernatural,  which  was  the  Jewish  test  of  author¬ 
ity;  and,  “the  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom” — human 
philosophy,  which  was  the  Greek  standard ;  but  “  we  have 
the  mind  of  Christ,”  which  is  the  Christian  standard  of 
authority.  Paul  claimed  to  have  the  mind  of  Christ,  and 
was  ready  at  all  times  to  give  his  credentials  for  the 
same;  and  he  called  upon  all,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  to 
accept  this  as  their  common  standard  of  authority  in  relig¬ 
ion.  Likewise,  we  have  “  the  mind  of  Christ,”  which 
has  come  down  to  us  from  the  inspired  writers  of  the 
Bible.  The  mind  of  Christ  is  found  in  the  words,  deeds 
and  character  of  Christ,  as  set  forth  in  the  Christian 
Scriptures,  which  fully  reveal  His  mind  on  every  essen¬ 
tial  matter  that  has  to  do  with  the  work  and  worship  of 
the  church  to-day.  Any  one  to-day  that  claims  to  have 
an  added  revelation  of  the  mind  of  Christ  should  be  able, 
as  Paul,  to  give  his  credentials  for  the  same;  otherwise, 
it  is  no  part  of  the  mind  of  Christ.  Such  claims  have 
been  a  fertile  cause  of  divisions  in  the  church;  so  the 
only  sure  way  to  unity  is  by  a  return  to  the  mind  of  Christ 
as  revealed  in  the  Christian  Scriptures,  which  is  the  only 
Christian  standard  of  authority  that  all  can  accept.  The 
mind  of  Christ  as  herein  revealed  is  clear  and  definite 
on  every  essential  that  has  to  do  with  the  church;  and 
an  acceptance  of  His  mind  as  final  in  religion  on  the 
part  of  all  is  the  first  step  toward  unity  according  to 
Paul’s  plan ;  and  this  first  step  prepares  the  way  for  the 
second,  which  is 

The  Removal  of  Differences 
u  And  brake  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition,  having 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  69 


abolished  in  his  flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of  com¬ 
mandments  contained  in  ordinances ;  that  he  might  create 
in  himself  of  the  two  one  new  man,  so  making  peace!' 
The  tearing  down  and  the  removal  of  “  the  middle  wall 
of  partition,”  or  differences,  was  the  second  step  in  Paul's 
plan  for  unity.  The  chief  differences,  or  the  highest  wall 
of  partition,  between  Jews  and  Gentiles  was  the  law  oi 
Moses,  which  Christ  fulfilled  and  took  out  of  the  way, 
“  nailing  it  to  the  cross.”  The  law  of  Moses  was  very 
exclusive  and  inclusive;  and  it  had  walled  the  Jews  in 
from  the  religious  world  for  centuries,  and  thereby  pre¬ 
vented  any  union  with  those  on  the  outside,  so  this  bar¬ 
rier  to  unity  had  to  be  removed  before  Christian  unity 
could  be  effected.  The  breaking  down  of  middle  walls 
'  of  partition,  or  the  removal  of  differences,  is  not  an  easy 
step  to  take  nor  a  pleasant  undertaking  to  accomplish; 
yet  it  is  folly  to  try  to  unite  without  settling  this  mat¬ 
ter  of  differences.  What  shall  we  do  with  our  differ¬ 
ences?,  is  a  baffling  question;  yet  it  can  not  be  ignored  in 
any  practical  plan  for  unity.  To  say  nothing  about  dif¬ 
ferences  in  a  discussion  of  Christian  unity  is  like  the  city 
man  that  hired  to  a  farmer,  and,  on  being  ordered  to 
grease  the  wagon,  greased  it  all  over  except  on  the  axles, 
the  only  places  that  needed  greasing.  Just  so  with  our 
differences,  the  points  of  friction  are  the  places  to  oil ;  and, 
if  the  unity  wagon  ever  rolls,  it  must  be  greased  at  the 
places  of  our  differences.  This  is  not  the  popular  plan 
for  unity,  as  Dr.  Armitage  states  in  the  following : 

“  It  is  a  popular  idea  that  kneeling  on  the  same  floor,  sitting 
on  the  same  bench,  singing  the  same  hymn,  uniting  in  the  same 
prayer  (when  we  have  never  been  divided  at  all  as  to  the  floor, 
the  bench,  the  hymn  or  the  prayer),  and  being  as  different  in  all 
other  respects  as  possible,  constitutes  Christian  union.  Men  of 
every  hue  of  faith  and  opinion,  and  every  variety  of  practice,  too, 
happen  to  meet  in  one  board,  or  on  one  platform,  or  under  one 


7a 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


roof,  and  because  they  are  not  bitter,  and  feel  kindly  toward  each 
other,  they  consider  that  they  are  making  great  attainments  in 
the  mysteries  of  Christian  union.  Yet  not  a  point  of  difference  is 
yielded  in  any  respect;  and  this  is  looked  upon  very  generally 
as  good,  fair  Bible  union.” 

However,  before  such  a  union  can  be  effected  all  essen¬ 
tial  religious  differences  must  be  broken  down;  and,  if 
this  was  done  in  Paul’s  day,  there  is  no  good  reason  why 
it  can  not  be  done  to-day.  Christians  ought  to  at  least 
be  able  to  discuss  amicably  their  differences  with  this  end 
in  view.  Business  men  do  so,  and  often  settle  their  dif¬ 
ferences  in  this  way;  and  shame  on  Christians,  if  they 
can  not  do  the  same.  However,  Christian  differences  are 
often  exaggerated  and  over-emphasized.  Differences 
among  Christians  ought  to  always  be  discussed  in  con¬ 
nection  with  their  agreements  to  be  seen  in  their  true 
light  and  value.  To  this  end  let  us  first  see  some  of  our 
agreements  and  keep  these  in  mind  as  we  consider  our 
differences,  as  follows : 

1.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  God,  Jehovah,  the  God 

of  the  Bible,  our  Father. 

2.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  God, 

our  teacher. 

3.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  Son,  Jesus  the  Christ,  our 

Saviour. 

4.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  Book,  the  Bible,  our  rule 

of  faith  and  practice. 

5.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  Church,  the  body  of 

Christ,  the  institution  for  Christian  work  and 

worship. 

6.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  Ordinances,  Baptism  and 

the  Lord’s  Supper. 

7.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  day,  the  Lord’s  day. 

8.  We  all  believe  in  the  Holy  life,  Christian  life. 

These  agreements  could  be  further  increased ;  but  these 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  71 


are  sufficient  to  show  that  we  are  largely  agreed  already. 
In  fact,  the  above  are  the  great  essentials  of  Christianity ; 
and  shows  that  we  are  nine-tenths  united  as  we  are.  Fur¬ 
thermore,  when  we  come  to  an  open,  frank  confession  and 
statement  of  our  differences,  many  of  them  will  be  found 
to  be  either  imaginary,  nominal  or  historical.  Many  dif¬ 
ferences  among  Christians  that  used  to  be  pronounced  and 
divisive  have  passed  away,  and  others  are  passing;  but 
there  are  yet  others  that  must  be  removed  before  Chris¬ 
tians  can  unite. 

What  are  these  remaining  differences?  Nine  out  of  ten 
Christians  do  not  even  know  what  these  differences  are ; 
and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  when  you  do  find  one  that 
knows,  he  is  ashamed  of  the  differences.  But  whether 
the  differences  be  many  or  few,  essential  or  non-essen¬ 
tial,  Paul  teaches  us  in  his  plan  for  unity  how  to  remove 
the  same,  thus,  let  “  Christ  break  them  down.”  Through 
his  words,  deeds  and  character,  as  revealed  in  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Scriptures,  he  has  expressed  his  mind  on  every  es¬ 
sential  matter  that  has  to  do  with  the  church ;  and  this 
should  be  final  with  all  that  accept  his  mind  as  the 
Christian  standard  of  authority.  No  difference  can  be 
settled  without  a  common  standard  of  authority.  With¬ 
out  a  common  standard  of  weights  and  measures  business 
differences  could  not  be  settled ;  but  with  it  differences  in 
business  can  be  settled.  Just  so  religious  differences  can 
be  removed  by  submitting  them  to  the  mind  of  Christ  for 
settlement.  But  the  trouble  is,  we  are  not  always  willing 
for  Christ  to  break  down  our  differences ;  we  want  to  be 
heard  ourselves,  and  are  not  always  willing  for  Christ, 
who  is  our  peace,  to  break  them  down. 

Yes,  but  we  differ  as  to  the  meaning  of  what  Christ 
has  said  on  many  things  about  which  we  differ.  Christ 
expressed  his  mind  so  clearly  and  simply  on  most  things 


72 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


that  there  is  practically  no  differences  among  the  well- 
informed  as  to  His  meaning;  but  the  most  of  our  differ¬ 
ences  are  over  matters  upon  which  He  did  not  speak  at 
all.  What  shall  we  do  with  these  differences?  Well,  if 
neither  Christ  nor  His  inspired  apostles  said  anything 
about  these  things,  or  did  any  thing  about  them ;  nor  no 
light  can  be  had  from  His  character  on  these  things,  then 
these  things  are  non-essentials ;  and  our  differences  over 
such  are  immaterial,  and  should  be  treated  as  such.  We 
therefore  must  say  nothing  about  these  things,  nor  do 
nothing  about  them  that  will  disturb  the  unity  of  the 
church.  For  instance,  differences  over  such  things  as 
missionary  and  benevolent  societies,  Bible  schools,  church 
papers,  church  buildings,  organs,  choirs,  song  books,  tun¬ 
ing  forks,  orders  of  worship,  etc.,  are  of  this  class.  They 
belong  to  the  class  of  things  spoken  of  by  Paul  in  his 
letters  such  as  “  eating  meat,”  “  keeping  days,”  etc.,  the 
faith  we  have  about  such  things,  Paul  says,  “  Have  thou 
to  thyself  before  God ;”  and  it  must  be  exercised  in  such 
a  way  as  to  “  cause  no  one  to  stumble  or  fall and  when 
such  comes  up  for  congregational  action,  the  will  of  the 
majority  should  be  accepted;  yet  the  will  of  the  minority 
must  be  respected  “  for  the  sake  of  the  conscience  of  the 

-L 

weak  brother,”  if  there  be  any  that  make  it  a  matter  of 
conscientious  faith.  In  such  cases  Christian  love  is  to 
determine  the  wise  thing  to  do. 

On  the  other  hand,  so  far  as  all  matters  upon  which 
Christ  has  spoken  are  concerned,  differences  must  be  set¬ 
tled  by  His  expressed  mind  as  revealed  in  the  canonical 
Christian  Scriptures,  “  rightly  divided,”  or  rationally  in¬ 
terpreted.  This  will  settle  every  essential  difference ;  and 
all  other  differences  can  be  adjusted  by  common  sense 
and  Christian  love. 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  73 

The  Removal  of  Our  Feelings 
“And  might  reconcile  them  both  in  one  body  unto  God 
through  the  cross,  having  slain  the  enmity  thereby:  and 
he  came  and  preached  peace  to  you  that  were  far  off , 
and  peace  to  them  that  were  nigh”  The  third  step  in 
Paul’s  plan,  as  stated  above,  provides  for  the  removal 
and  destruction  of  all  religious  sectarian  feelings  that 
stand  in  the  way  of  Christian  unity.  We  usually  think 
of  our  differences  as  the  greatest  barrier  to  unity ;  but 
not  so, — our  feelings  will  be  found  to  be  the  last  and 
hardest  obstacle  to  remove.  What  shall  we  do  with  our 
feelings  ?,  is  a  more  baffling  question  than,  What  shall  we 
do  with  our  differences?,  because  religious  feelings  have 
a  stronger  hold  than  religious  convictions  on  people. 
Out  of  the  feelings  springs  sectarianism,  the  worst  pest 
that  grows  in  the  human  heart.  It  chokes  out  all  good 
impulses,  and  fertilizes  all  evil  passions.  It  has  kindled 
martyr  flames,  pierced  innocent  hands,  broken  gentle 
hearts,  crowned  with  thorns  and  crucified  the  Saviour  of 
the  race.  Like  a  vampire  it  has  sapped  the  life  out  of 
religion  and  the  spirituality  out  of  worship,  and  left  the 
church  an  empty  shell  and  the  soul  a  dry  husk.  Its  his¬ 
tory  is  the  history  of  “  the  seven  woes  ”  in  the  annals  of 
the  church ;  and  it  has  been  the  chief  agent  and  factor 
in  all  the  divisions  of  the  church ;  “  for,  where  there  is 
envying  and  strife,”  says  Paul,  “  there  is  confusion  and 
every  evil  work.”  Most  of  the  confusion  and  evil  work 
in  the  church  have  grown  out  of  sectarianism  that  is  de¬ 
structive  of  the  peace,  progress  and  development  of  the 
church.  Paul  found  the  rankest  sectarianism  gone  to 
seed  in  the  hearts  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  who  hated 
each  other  with  all  the  bitterness  and  animosity  of  which 
the  human  soul  is  capable,  and  he  had  to  purge  their 


74 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


hearts  of  all  such  feelings  before  they  could  be  reconciled 
and  united. 

Religious  feelings  are  the  result  of  competition  and 
rivalry  in  religion,  which  engenders  partisan  prejudiced 
feelings.  No  person  can  be  an  active  loyal  member  of 
a  party  either  social,  political  or  religious  without  becom¬ 
ing  partisan.  This  is  one  of  the  worst  features  of 
division  in  the  church;  it  makes  people  prejudiced  and 
sectarian;  and  no  prejudiced  sectarian  can  unite  with  all 
the  people  of  God.  If  there  were  no  other  barrier  to 
keep  him  out,  prejudice  would  isolate  him.  The  heart 
must  be  emptied  of  all  sectarian  feelings  to  unite  with 
Christians  of  every  Church. 

Wherefore,  Paul  put  into  his  plan  for  unity  >an  item 
-  for  the  eradication  of  sectarianism  from  the  hearts  of 
both  Jews'  and  Gentiles.  “  Pie  reconciled  them  both.” 
“  Reconcile  ”  is  a  strong  word  that  calls  for  the  emptying 
of  the  heart  of  all  hostile  prejudiced  feelings.  No  mere 
covering  up  or  ignoring  these  feelings  for  the  sake  of 
appearances  and  politeness  will  suffice.  The  heart  must 
be  emptied  of  all  sectarian  bitterness,  and  filled  and 
sweetened  with  brotherly  love. 

Also,  “  He  reconciled  them  both  unto  God”  One 
must  be  truly  and  genuinely  reconciled  unto  God  before 
he  can  become  reconciled  to  his  brethren.  The  churches 
to-day  are  full  of  people  that  are  not  reconciled  to  God. 
It  is  useless  to  undertake  to  reconcile  these  unto  each 
other  until  they  first  become  reconciled  unto  their  God. 
They  must  make  their  peace  with  God  first,  must  remove 
everything  between  them  and  God ;  and  then  it  will  be 
an  easy  matter  to  reconcile  them  to  each  other.  The  peo¬ 
ple  that  live  closest  to  God  never  cause  trouble  in  the 
church,  but  those  whose  lives  and  characters  are  at  vari¬ 
ance  with  God  are  the  ones  that  sow  strife  and  discord 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  75 


among  brethren.  Wherefore,  Paul,  writing  to  the  Corin¬ 
thian  Christians,  says,  “  We  are  embassadors,  therefore, 
on  behalf  of  Christ,  as  though  God  were  entreating  by 
us;  we  beseech  you  on  behalf  of  Christ,  be  ye  reconciled 
unto  God.”  In  no  other  way  can  peace  and  harmony 
be  maintained  in  the  church,  because  the  unreconciled 
unto  God  will  soon  become  the  unreconciled  in  the 
church.  The  man  that  is  at  war  with  God  will  sooner 
or  later  be  at  war  with  his  brethren.  So  Paul  went  to 
the  fountain-head  of  strife  and  discord,  the  personal  re¬ 
lationship  between  man  and  God,  and  established  peace 
there;  and  this  peace  flowed  out  in  streams  of  harmony 
among  brethren.  So  then,  the  question  of  unity  among 
brethren  is  primarily  a  matter  of  unity  with  God.  Those 
that  are  one  with  God  will  be  one  with  each  other.  So, 
therefore,  Paul  “  reconciled  them  both  unto  God,”  that 
they  might  be  reconciled  unto  each  other. 

Furthermore,  Paul  says,  “  He  reconciled  them  both 
in  one  body  ”  In  other  words,  Paul  did  not  put  the  Jews 
in  one  church  and  the  Gentiles  in  another  church,  but 
he  put  both  together  “in  one  body;”  and  in  so  doing 
he  precluded  another  source  of  hostile  religious  feelings 
among  Christians.  Separate  worshipping  bodies,  or 
churches,  have  been  a  fertile  source  of  prejudiced  feel¬ 
ings  among  Christians.  The  overlapping  of  these 
churches  and  the  consequent  rivalry  and  competition 
between  the  same  have  brought  Christians  into  conflict, 
strife  and  hard  feelings  with  each  other.  A  multiplicity 
of  religious  bodies  results  always  in  a  multiplicity  of  bit¬ 
ter  feelings  between  the  members  of  the  same ;  so  this 
source  of  bitterness  must  be  removed  to  stop  the  flow 
of  prejudice  among  Christians.  Wherefore,  all  must  find 
their  way  back  to  this  one  original  body  of  Christ,  and 
there  live  together  and  work  and  worship  together  as 


76 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


the  one  family  or  household  of  God.  Surrounded  as  we 
are  to-day  by  a  great  multiplicity  of  Christian  bodies,  it 
is  hard  to  think  and  trace  our  way  back  to  this  original 
body  of  Christ.  Some  claim  to  be  able  to  stand  in  the 
church  in  which  they  worship  and  shake  the  chain  of 
ecclesiastical  descent  and  hear  it  rattle  in  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem;  but  no  one  but  themselves  can  hear  it.  In 
fact,  the  body  of  Christ  can  not  be  thus  identified  by 
historical  continuity,  because  there  have  been  so  many, 
many  departures  and  fallings-away  in  the  same  that  this 
can  not  be  relied  upon ;  besides  Christ  did  not  provide  nor 
intend  any  such  identification  of  His  church ;  but  He  as¬ 
sured  us  that,  “  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them and  there 
is  to  be  found  the  church  of  Christ.  So,  when  all  the 
Christians  in  a  community  come  together  in  the  name  of 
Christ  to  worship  God,  this  is  undoubtedly  the  church  or 
one  body  of  Christ. 

One  of  the  great  hindrances  in  the  way  of  Christians 
doing  this  is  the  many  separate  church  buildings  in  every 
community.  These  must  be  abandoned  for  a  common 
church  home.  As  long  as  Christians  worship  apart,  they 
will  drift  further  and  further  apart ;  and  bitter  feelings 
will  grow  and  multiply.  What  to  do  with  these  build¬ 
ings  and  church  property  in  general  is  a  great  problem 
and  obstacle  to  Christian  union  and  one  that  so  far  has 
baffled  human  solution.  If  a  cyclone  could  be  sent 
through  every  community  as  at  Flat  Creek,  Tenn.,  and 
blow  all  of  them  away  except  one,  or  still  better  all,  then 
all  would  be  in  a  position  to  come  together  and  build  a 
common  church  home,  and  thereby  remove  this  fertile 
source  of  prejudice  among  Christians.  Paul  knew  the 
evils  of  separate  worshipping  bodies,  so  he  put  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles  “  in  one  body.” 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  77 


Note  also  that  all  prejudice  and  bitterness  between 
Jews  and  Gentiles  were  removed  “  through  the  cross, 
having  slain  the  enmity  thereby.”  Paul  held  up  before 
both  the  cross  of  Christ,  or  Christ  crucified,  the  vision 
of  which  slew  all  enmity  in  their  hearts,  for  no  one  can 
cherish  any  bitterness  in  the  presence  of  the  cross.  No 
one  can  behold  Jesus  dying  on  the  cross  for  the  salvation 
of  the  world,  and  hear  Him  utter  with  His  last  breath, 
“  Father,  forgive  them ;  they  know  not  what  they  do,” 
and  hold  bitter  feelings  in  his  heart  against  any  of  the 
followers  of  Christ.  In  the  presence  of  such  forgiveness, 
one  cannot  hold  bitterness  and  hard  feelings  in  his  heart 
against  others.  The  cross  of  Christ  is  the  only  influence 
in  the  world  that  can  empty  the  heart  of  all  bitterness, 
and  fill  and  sweeten  it  with  love  for  God  and  man.  The 
love  that  overshadows  the  cross  warms,  softens  and  melts 
the  hearts  of  all  that  believe  in  Christ,  and  welds  them 
together  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  unity.  So  then,  if 
Christians  ever  unite,  it  will  be  at  the  foot  of  the  cross 
of  Christ,  because  nowhere  else  can  his  followers  lay 
aside  all  feelings  that  keep  them  apart.  This  is  another 
reason  for  keeping  the  cross  prominent  in  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  all  Christians ;  and  to  this  end  the  Lord’s  Supper 
was  placed  in  the  worship  of  the  church.  Christ  said, 
“  If  I  be  lifted  up,  I  will  draw  all  men  unto  me and  he 
will  draw  all  together  into  Christian  unity  through  his 
exaltation  on  the  cross,  “  having  slain  the  enmity 
thereby.” 

When,  through  the  influence  of  the  cross,  they  were 
reconciled,  Paul’s  plan  provided  also  a  way  to  keep  them 
reconciled,  as  follows :  “  And  he  came  and  preached 
peace  to  you  that  were  far  off,  and  peace  to  them  that 
were  nigh.”  It  was  just  as  important  to  maintain  this 
reconciliation  as  it  was  to  effect  it,  otherwise  unity  would 


78 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


have  ended  with  the  reconciliation.  Reconciliation  was 
to  be  maintained  by  the  preaching  of  peace  to  all  parties 
alike.  Paul  knew  that  numberless  things  would  arise  in 
the  church  that  would  disturb  and  disrupt,  so  he  enjoined 
the  preaching  of  peace — the  pouring  of  oil  on  the  troubled 
waters.  “  So  then  let  us  follow  after  the  things  that 
make  for  peace,”  “  giving  diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace.”  Paul  knew  that  this 
was  the  only  way  to  keep  unity  in  the  church.  The 
church  is  the  most  inflammable  institution  in  the  world, 
and  the  preaching  and  following  of  peace  is  the  only  way 
to  keep  down  and  quench  the  flames  of  strife  and  divi¬ 
sion  in  the  church.  “  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers :  for 
they  shall  be  called  the  sons  of  God.”  Some  in  Paul’s 
day  preached  Christ  even  of  envy  and  strife,  and  some 
to-day  preach  a  military  gospel,  and  wage  unceasing  war 
on  the  sects,  either  not  knowing  or  having  forgotten  that 
the  gospel  of  Christ  is  a  message  of  peace  and  good  will, 
and  that  Christians  are  nowhere  commanded  to  fight 
people.  We  are  commanded  to  “fight  the  good  fight 
of  the  faith,”  but  nowhere  are  we  told  to  fight  the  sects. 
Sectarianism  can  not  be  destroyed  in  this  way.  The 
preaching  of  the  cross  of  Christ  and  peace  and  good  will 
among  all  men  is  the  only  way  to  destroy  sectarianism  and 
maintain  unity  in  the  church.  The  fourth  item  in  Paul’s 
plan  for  unity  is 

A  Common  Access  Unto  the  Father 
“Through  him  (Christ)  we  both  have  our  access  in 
one  Spirit  unto  the  Father !’  The  question  as  to  how  to 
come  to  the  Father,  or  what  to  do  to  be  saved,  has  been 
a  disturbing  issue  in  the  church  from  the  beginning.  In 
fact,  the  church  has  often  divided  at  this  point ;  and  there 
can  be  no  hope  in  the  future  for  unity  in  the  church 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  79 


unless  this  question  can  be  agreeably  settled.  As  it  is 
to-day,  almost  every  church  has  a  different  way  or  some¬ 
thing  distinctive  in  its  way  of  bringing  people  to  the 
Father.  But  what  difference  does  it  make  anyway,  just 
so  they  reach  the  Father,  and  are  saved?  “There  are 
many  ways  to  heaven,  so  it  matters  little  which  you  take, 
just  so  you  reach  there.”  This  may  or  may  not  be  true; 
but  there  is  one  thing  certain,  namely,  we  can  never  have 
Christian  unity  as  long  as  we  have  these  many  ways  of 
coming  to  God  for  salvation.  If  Paul  had  not  provided 
for  a  common  access  to  the  Father  in  his  plan,  we  would 
know  this  by  experience,  because  there  has  been  much 
trouble  in  the  church  over  these  different  ways  of  salva¬ 
tion.  But  Paul  anticipated  everything  that  would  dis¬ 
turb  the  unity  of  the  church,  and  provided  for  the  same. 
Accordingly,  he  required  that  both  Jews  and  Gentiles 
come  to  the  Father  in  the  same  way.  In  other  words, 
the  Jews  did  not  come  to  the  Father  in  one  way,  and  the 
Gentiles  in  another ;  but  “  through  him  we  both  have  our 
access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father.”  Just  so  all  to-day 
must  have  a  common  access  to  the  Father,  if  we  are  to 
have  Christian  unity ;  and  Paul  in  the  above  statement 
opens  up  the  way  by  which  all  may  come  to  God  together, 
and  thereby  have  unity. 

Note  first  that  “ through  him  (Christ)”  both  came  to 
the  Father.  Both  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  required  to 
come  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  The  Jews  were  not 
permitted  to  come  to  God  through  Moses  and  the  High 
Priest  of  the  Temple,  as  they  had  been  accustomed,  nor 
were  the  Gentiles  allowed  to  come  through  the  person  of 
their  choosing  and  religion;  but  u  through  him  (Christ) 
we  both  have  our  access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father.” 
Christ  himself  emphasized  the  necessity  of  this,  saying, 
“  I  am  the  door  of  the  sheep.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 


80 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


you,  he  that  entereth  not  by  the  door  into  the  fold  of 
the  sheep,  but  climbeth  up  some  other  way,  the  same  is 
a  thief  and  a  robber.”  There  is  no  other  approach  to 
God  except  through  Jesus  Christ,  so  all  must  come 
through  Him,  who  alone  is  “  the  way  ”  of  salvation.  This 
all  of  the  followers  of  Christ  believe  and  teach  and  prac¬ 
tice  in  bringing  people  to  God. 

But  note  also  that  both  were  required  to  come  “  in  one 
Spirit  ”  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  is,  according  to  the  teach¬ 
ing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  Jesus  Christ  sent  into  the 
world  after  his  departure  to  teach  through  the  Apostles 
the  way  to  the  Father,  or  the  way  of  salvation.  John 
14:16-26.  The  Apostles  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  began  their  teaching  on  the  day  of  Pente¬ 
cost  ;  and  their  teaching  and  acts  under  the  leadings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  were  written  by  Luke  in  his  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  which  is  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  how 
to  come  to  the  Father.  In  almost  every  chapter  there  is 
an  account  of  how  the  Apostles  brought  people  to  God; 
and  in  every  case  the  way  was  the  same.  The  way  was 
so  plain  and  well-known  that  it  was  known  as  “  the  way 
and  this  way  will  be  as  well  known  to  any  one  to-day 
who  studies  Acts  of  the  Apostles  to  learn  the  way  to  the 
Father.  Any  one,  therefore,  that  comes  to  God  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  teaching  of  this  book  comes  “in  one  Spirit ” 
as  Paul  requires  for  unity.  A  study  of  the  teaching  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  book  will  reveal  these  successive 
steps,  required  of  all  in  coming  to  the  Father,  namely, 
faith,  confession,  repentance  and  baptism.  Accordingly, 
all  churches  require  these  things  of  those  who  would 
come  to  God  to-day ;  and  there  is  a  difference  only  as  to 
the  place  of  baptism  in  their  ways  of  bringing  people  to 
God.  Every  church  except  the  Quakers  gives  it  some 
place  on  the  program  for  bringing  people  to  the  Father. 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  81 


Some,  however,  give  it  a  merely  nominal  place,  claiming 
that  it  was  merely  an  incidental  and  accommodation  to  the 
Apostolic  age;  others  that  it  is  a  non-essential  ordinance 
that  may  or  may  not  be  observed  in  any  form  that  one 
chooses ;  yet  they  are  not  willing  to  leave  it  off  altogether 
as  do  the  Quakers.  They  would  have  to  leave  off  faith 
and  repentance  also,  because  they  are  co-ordinately  united 
with  baptism  in  the  Scriptures,  Mark  16:16  and  Acts 
2:38;  and  all  look  upon  these  as  essential  steps  in  com¬ 
ing  to  God,  so  baptism  for  the  sake  of  its  connection  in 
the  Scriptures  is  continued  in  the  many  churches.  That 
it  formed  a  part  of  the  original  way  of  coming  to  the 
Father  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Christ  himself  came  by  the 
way  of  baptism,  Mat.  3:  13-17;  and  he  put  baptism  in 
his  great  commission  to  his  disciples,  Mat.  28:  19;  Mark 
16:  15-16.  Paul  and  all  the  other  apostles  came  to  the 
Father  by  the  way  of  baptism,  Acts  22:16;  and  they  all 
emphasized  its  significance  and  important  Acts  8 : 38, 
10 :  47 ;  Rom.  6 :  1-17 ;  Gal.  3:27;  I  Pet.  3:21;  Jno.  3:5; 
I  Jno.  5 : 8.  But  why  stickle,  argue  and  divide  over  the 
place  of  baptism  in  bringing  people  to  God?  Cannot  all 
that  desire  to  come  to  the  Father  comply  with  this  simple 
command,  and  trust  Jesus  Christ  to  put  it  for  the  proper 
purpose?  Surely  he  knows  the  place  and  reasons  for 
this  ordinance,  and  will  make  no  mistake  as  to  its  design 
for  all  those  that  trust  him  in  their  obedience  to  this 
command.  Some  contend  that  it  is  a  form,  and  it  is, 
Rom.  1:17;  others  claim  that  it  is  a  door  into  the  church, 
and  it  is,  I  Cor.  12:13;  and  still  others  insist  that 
it  is  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  it  is,  Acts  2 :  38.  Why 
can  not  it  be  for  all  these  things,  and  everybody  stand  for 
the  whole  truth  of  baptism,  and  thereby  stand  together 
instead  of  standing  for  only  a  part  of  the  truth  and  stand¬ 
ing  apart?  Besides  there  is  no  reason  for  people  being 


82 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


divided  over  the  design  of  baptism  anyway,  because  this 
belongs  in  the  realm  of  the  purposes  of  God,  where  it  is 
not  the  part  of  man  to  argue  but  to  do. 

But  we  further  differ  as  what  the  act  of  baptism  is. 
There  is  no  difference  among  the  well-informed  as  to 
what  it  was  in  Apostolic  times,  namely,  immersion  in 
water,  because  this  is  revealed  plainly  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  ;  but  many  contend  that  other  forms  will  do  as  well. 
Inasmuch  as  all  accept  the  validity  of  immersion,  why 
can  not  all  unite  on  this  form?  The  bishops  of  the  Epis¬ 
copal  Church  make  this  proposition  to  the  Christian 
world ;  and  it  seems  that  all  those  that  desire  unity  ought 
to  accept  the  same.  The  proposition  to  give  all  their 
choice  of  forms  for  the  sake  of  unity  is  folly,  for  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  church  and  the  experience  of  the  past  show 
conclusively  that  we  can  never  have  a  united  church 
upon  a  divided  baptism.  This  proposition  would  divide 
more  than  it  would  unite.  There  is  but  one  truly 
catholic  baptism,  which  is  immersion ;  and,  unless  we  can 
come  together  upon  this,  we  will  remain  hopelessly 
divided  over  the  way  to  the  Father.  Surely  all  those  who 
are  willing  to  come  to  the  Father  as  Paul  directs, 
“through  him  (Christ)  we  both  have  our  access  in  one 
Spirit  unto  the  Father/’  will  be  willing  to  come  by  the 
form  of  baptism,  prescribed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking 
through  the  Apostles.  No  other  form  can  ever  satisfy 
all,  and  insure  unity  in  the  church;  and  we  can  never 
have  unity  in  the  church  without  a  common  access  to  the 
Father.  Wherefore  Paul  says  in  his  plan  for  unity, 
“  Through  him  we  both  have  our  access  in  one  Spirit 
unto  the  Father.”  The  next  item  in  this  plan  is, 

A  Democratic  Church 

“So  then  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  sojourners , 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  83 


but  ye  are  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the 
household  of  God Accordingly,  the  Gentiles  were  re¬ 
ceived  into  the  church  on  the  same  plane  with  the  Jews, 
with  no  racial  or  class  distinction  whatever ;  they  were  all 
fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  brethren  in  the  house¬ 
hold  of  God.  The  words  “  fellow-citizens  ”  and 
“  brethren  ”  are  democratic  words,  and  express  a  demo¬ 
cratic  relationship  in  the  church.  As  to  governmental 
form,  the  church  of  Christ  is  a  democratic  institution — a 
theocracy,  over  which  Christ  is  head — and  all  are  fellow- 
citizens,  or  a  great  household  of  God,  over  which  the 
Father  is  head,  and  all  are  brethren.  There  were  no 
ranks,  castes  or  ruling  classes  in  the  apostolic  church. 
However,  the  apostles  had  great  difficulty  in  establishing 
this  democracy  in  the  church.  The  Jews  and  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  who  came  into  the  church  had  never  known  any¬ 
thing  except  a  monarchical  or  class  form  of  government  in 
both  church  and  state,  so  they  had  to  be  taught  the  very 
first  principles  of  democracy.  In  almost  every  letter  to 
the  churches,  Paul  emphasized  the  democracy  of  the 
church,  saying :  “  Where  there  can  not  be  Greek  and 

Jew,  circumcision  and  uncircumcision,  barbarian,  Scy¬ 
thian,  bondman,  freeman;  but  Christ  is  all  and  in  all.” 
Every  possible  class  and  distinction  are  herein  prohibited 
in  the  church;  such  as  racial,  neither  Greek  nor  Jew; 
religious,  neither  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision ;  edu¬ 
cational,  neither  barbarian  nor  Scythian ;  civil,  neither 
bondman  nor  freeman ;  all  are  Christians,  and  Christ  is 
in  all,  which  is  all-sufficient  for  all  races  and  classes  in 
the  world.  One  of  the  most  touching  and  most  beauti¬ 
ful  incidents  in  the  apostolic  church  was  Paul’s  letter  to 
Philemon,  in  which  he  endeavours  to  put  master  and  slave 
upon  the  common  plane  of  Christian  brotherhood.  Every 
word  in  the  New  Testament,  referring  to  the  brotherhood 


84 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


in  Christ,  is  a  democratic  word,  such  as  “  disciples/’ 
“  saints,”  “  brethren,”  “  fellow-citizens,”  “  God’s  fellow- 
workers,”  etc.  However,  in  spite  of  all  this  democratic 
teaching,  the  church  has  not  always  been  a  democratic 
institution,  nor  is  it  so  to-day  in  many  respects.  Such 
classes  and  distinctions  as  popes,  cardinals,  priests, 
bishops,  pastors,  clergy  and  laity  have  no  place  in  a  demo¬ 
cratic  church  of  Christ  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament. 
To  maintain  the  above  classes  in  the  church,  the  denomi¬ 
nations  have  built  up  great  ecclesiasticisms — “  a  towering 
structure,  gradation  above  gradation — a  living  pyramid — 
on  whose  summit  is  enthroned  a  ruling  mind,  at  whose 
base  is  stretched  out  a  kneeling  and  obedient  world.” 

However,  even  among  those  that  claim  to  be  demo¬ 
cratic,  class  rule  often  asserts  and  maintains  itself  through 
organized  presbyteries,  associations,  societies,  boards,  re¬ 
ligious  papers,  etc.  Besides  this  ecclesiastical  rule  from 
without  by  the  above  agencies,  there  is  also  often  hier- 
archal  rule  within  by  domineering  elders,  who  “  lord  it 
over  God’s  heritage,”  which  was  forbidden  in  the  apos¬ 
tolic  church,  because  such  has  no  place  in  a  democratic 
church  (I  Pet.  5:3).  This  is  one  of  the  worst  forms  of 
domineering  ecclesiasticism  that  has  ever  risen  in  the 
church,  and  the  hardest  to  get  rid  of,  because  an  evil 
within  is  always  worse  and  more  tenacious  than  one  with¬ 
out.  Many  elders,  intoxicated  on  Scriptural  references 
to  the  rulership  of  elders,  which  they  neither  rightfully 
understand  nor  fully  appreciate,  forget  that  they  are  only 
the  servant  rulers  of  the  congregation  (I  Pet.  5:1-5), 
and  assert  their  divine  (?)  right  and  lifetime  rulership 
over  the  congregation,  for  which  there  is  not  a  vestige 
of  Scriptural  authority.  Any  church  officer  or  board  that 
makes  such  a  claim,  and  refuses  to  listen  to  the  voice  of 
the  congregation,  is  a  usurper  of  a  democratic  authority, 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  85 


and  should,  therefore,  be  removed  by  the  same  voice  or 
vote  that  placed  him  in  office.  Lifetime  office  tenure  has 
no  place  in  a  democratic  government,  and  the  right  and 
power  to  elect  carries  with  it  the  right  and  power  to 
remove ;  however,  many  congregations  have  suffered 
themselves  to  be  robbed  of  these  democratic  rights  by  a 
domineering  eldership  or  board.  The  church  has  suffered 
from  this  hierarchal  rule  within  as  much,  perhaps,  as 
from  that  without;  and  between  these  upper  and  lower 
ecclesiastical  millstones  the  democracy  of  the  church  has 
often  either  been  crushed  out  or  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

There  seems  to  be  an  innate  desire  in  man  for  power 
and  position,  which,  from  the  very  beginning,  has  been 
destructive  of  the  democracy  of  the  church ;  but,  without 
real  democracy  in  the  church  government  there  can  be  no 
unity  in  the  church,  or  at  least  no  Christian  unity.  An 
enforced  unity  may  exist  under  monarchical  and  hierarchal 
forms  of  church  government,  but  this  is  not  Christian 
unity.  The  Christian  is  God’s  freeman,  and  he  must, 
therefore,  have  a  unity  consistent  with  freedom,  which  is 
possible  only  in  a  democratic  church.  The  close  of  the 
great  World  War  virtually  marked  the  end  of  monarchical 
and  hierarchal  forms  of  government  in  state,  and  the 
end  of  the  same  in  church  will  soon  follow.  There  is  a 
strong  and  loud  cry  in  every  denomination  to-day  for  a 
more  democratic  church,  which  must  be  heard  and 
answered  by  the  restoration  of  the  democracy  of  the  apos¬ 
tolic  church,  which  is  an  essential  item  in  Paul’s  plan  for 
Christian  unity.  “Ye  are  no  longer  strangers  and 
sojourners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  with 
the  household  of  God.” 

The  Foundation  of  Unity 

“Being  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 


86 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


prophets,  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  cornerstone.” 
Paul  thus  lays  the  foundation  for  Christian  unity,  which 
is  the  sixth  item  in  his  plan  for  unity.  Nothing  can  be 
better  and  more  lasting  than  the  foundation  on  which  it 
is  built.  If  the  foundation  is  rightly  and  properly  laid, 
the  superstructure  will  stand  every  strain;  but,  if  it  is 
poorly  and  wrongfully  founded,  it  cannot  stand  or  last. 
Christ  emphasized  this  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  say¬ 
ing  a  wise  man  “  built  his  house  upon  a  rock :  and  the 
rains  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds 
blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house;  and  it  fell  not;  for  it 
was  founded  upon  the  rock.  *  *  *  And  a  foolish 

man  built  his  house  upon  the  sand:  and  the  rain  de¬ 
scended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and 
smote  upon  that  house;  and  it  fell;  and  great  was  the 
fall  thereof/’  This  explains  the  fall  and  failure  of  many 
plans  for  Christian  unity  in  the  past.  They  were  not 
rightly  founded ;  nor  did  they  stand  for  anything  definite 
and  worth  while.  People  can  not  unite  and  stand  together 
except  they  stand  for  some  things  that  are  true  and  last¬ 
ing.  Wherefore,  Paul,  “  the  wise  master-builder  laid  the 
foundation ;  and  another  buildeth  thereon ;  but  let  each  man 
take  heed  how  he  buildeth  thereon.  For  other  foundation 
can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid  ”  for  Christian 
unity,  which  is  “  built  upon  the  prophets  and  apostles, 
Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  cornerstone.”  This 
is  the  personal  foundation  of  Christian  unity.  There  can 
be  no  religious  unity  without  an  agreement  on  the  per¬ 
sonal  religious  authorities  that  underlie  and  stand  back 
of  that  religion,  and  constitute  the  authoritative  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  same. 

First,  Paul  put  “  the  prophets  ”  in  the  foundation  of 
Christian  unity,  the  prophets  of  the  old  or  preceding 
dispensation,  the  Jewish  religious  authorities.  Christ 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  87 


did  the  same  in  his  sermon  on  the  mount,  which  is  the 
constitution  of  Christianity,  saying,  “  Think  not  that  I 
came  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets :  I  came  not 
to  destroy  but  to  fulfill.”  This  word,  “  fulfill,”  does  not 
mean  to  bring  to  an  end  but  to  “  develop,  perfect.”  Christ 
not  only  stated  and  defined  his  attitude  toward  the  law 
and  the  prophets  of  the  Jewish  dispensation,  but  he  illus¬ 
trated  the  same  by  specific  laws,  showing  his  further 
development  and  perfection  of  the  same.  Wherefore 
Paul  put  “the  prophets  ”  in  the  foundation  for  unity. 
In  fact,  no  man  inspired  of  God  ever  rejected  “  Moses 
and  the  prophets ;”  notwithstanding  some  to-day  want  to 
leave  them  out  of  everything  that  is  Christian.  In  fact, 
you  had  as  well  read  a  last  year’s  almanac  to  some  as 
Moses  and  the  prophets ;  but  Christ  and  Paul  did  not  so 
teach.  They  quoted  them,  and  stood  for  them.  How¬ 
ever,  we  do  not  incorporate  the  law  of  Moses  and  the 
Old  Testament  prophecies  into  Christianity,  except  in  the 
way  and  to  the  extent  as  defined  and  set  out  by  Christ 
and  Paul  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  which  was 
a  troublesome  question  in  the  Apostolic  church,  and  is 
beyond  the  scope  of  this  treatise  except  as  it  touches 
the  unity  of  the  church  to-day.  On  this  point  it  suffices 
to  say  that  all  Christians  who  desire  to  unite  and  stand 
together  must  stand  for  “  the  prophets,”  whom  Paul  put 
into  the  foundation  of  Christian  unity. 

Paul  put  also  “  the  apostles  ”  of  new  dispensation  into 
the  foundation  of  Christian  unity.  Christ  had  spent 
three  years  in  training  and  teaching  the  twelve  chosen 
for  this  apostleship ;  and  after  his  departure  he  sent  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  “  lead  them  into  all  truth  and  bring  to 
their  memory  all  things  whatsoever  he  had  taught  them,” 
so  they  were  thoroughly  qualified  as  religious  authorities 
for  the  foundation  of  Christianity.  However,  in  these 


88 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


latter  days  there  has  arisen  a  sect  of  modernists,  “  higher 
critics/’  “  modern  viewpointers,”  “  new-thought  advo¬ 
cates,”  who  cry,  “  Back  to  Christ,”  and  refuse  to  hear 
“  the  apostles but  no  one  can  consistently  accept  the 
Christ  of  the  New  Testament  without  accepting  the 
apostles  as  his  authorized  spokesmen.  They  were  ready 
at  all  times  to  give  their  credentials  “  by  signs  and  won¬ 
ders,  and  by  manifold  powers,  and  by  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.”  Besides  they  were  “  eyewitnesses  of  his 
majesty,”  who  “  declared  what  they  heard  and  saw.” 
“  We  have  the  mind  of  Christ,”  says  Paul.  “  We  speak 
God's  wisdom  in  a  mystery,  even  the  wisdom  that  hath 
been  hidden.  *  *  *  But  unto  us  God  revealed  it 

through  the  Spirit.”  They  were  of  the  “  men  that  spake 
from  God,  being  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit.”  So,  there¬ 
fore,  to  refuse  to  hear  them  is  to  refuse  to  hear  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  is  the  highest  blasphemy. 

Lastly,  Paul  put  Christ  in  the  foundation  of  Christian 
unity  as  “  the  chief  cornerstone,”  or  keystone,  connecting 
“  the  prophets  ”  of  the  old  dispensation  with  “  the 
apostles  ”  of  the  new.  Christ  was  the  connecting  link 
between  the  two  and  the  final  religious  authority,  to 
whom  each  looked.  So  it  would  be,  of  course,  the  height 
of  inconsistency  to  leave  Christ  out  of  anything  that 
claims  to  be  Christian.  No  one  would  openly  do  this; 
but  some  endeavour  to  substitute  a  Christ  of  their  own 
imagination  and  fabrication  for  the  historic  Christ  of  the 
Bible.  The  Christ  of  the  Scriptures  is  the  only  Christ 
that  we  know  anything  about.  There  is  no  “  Christ  of 
to-day,”  or  “  Christ  of  the  Middle  Ages,”  or  “  of  the 
first  century.”  “  But  thou  art  the  same,”  yesterday,  to¬ 
day  and  forever.  Christ  is  not  an  undefined  abstract 
ideal  of  any  one’s  conceiving,  but  a  historic  character, 
or  being,  that  came  from  God,  and  lived  and  died  among 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  89 


men,  and  then  returned  to  God,  of  whom  the  Christian 
Scriptures  are  the  only  authentic  history;  and,  when  this 
account  is  rejected  or  changed  to  suit  the  ideas  of  any¬ 
one,  “  the  chief  cornerstone  ”  of  Christianity  is  removed, 
and  the  whole  superstructure  falls  to  earth  as  all  the  false 
religions  of  the  past  have  done. 

The  foundation  for  Christian  unity  as  laid  by  Paul  the 
wise  master-builder,  is,  therefore,  “  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  corner¬ 
stone.”  You  will  observe  that  there  is  no  place  left  in 
this  foundation  for  any  modern  religious  authorities  such 
as  the  Pope,  the  Bishop,  Mrs.  Eddy,  Pastor  Russell,  etc. ; 
and  union  on  them  cannot,  therefore,  be  Christian  union, 
though  it  is  falsely  so  called.  If  Christians  ever  unite, 
they  must  unite  upon  the  foundation  laid  by  Paul,  be¬ 
cause  “  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which 
is  laid;”  and  any  unity  built  upon  any  other  foundation 
cannot,  therefore,  be  Christian  unity;  and  “  Let  each  man 
take  heed  how  he  buildeth  thereon.”  The  final  or  seventh 
item  in  Paul’s  plan  for  unity  is. 

The  Units  of  Union 

“In  whom  each  several  building ,  fitly  framed  together, 
groweth  into  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord;  in  whom  ye  also 
builded  together  for  a  habitation  of  God  in  the  Spirit.” 
Wherever  Paul  went  and  preached,  he  built  a  church,  a 
congregation  of  disciples  of  Christ ;  and  he  here  refers  to 
them  as  “each  several  building;”  and  each  one  of  these 
local  congregations  “  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  into 
a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord,”  that  is,  each  local  congrega¬ 
tion,  properly  built  and  set  in  order,  is  a  unit  in  the  “  holy 
temple  of  the  Lord,”  or  church  universal,  which  is  made 
up  of  all  congregations  of  Christians  as  integral  parts. 
Each  one  of  these  congregations  is  made  up  of  individual 


90 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


Christians  as  integral  parts,  or  as  stated  by  Paul,  “in 
whom  ye  (Christians)  are  builded  together  for  a  habi¬ 
tation  of  God  in  the  Spirit ;”  or  as  stated  by  Peter,  “  Ye 
as  living  stones  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house.”  The 
individual  Christians  are,  therefore,  the  units  of  con¬ 
struction  in  the  local  church,  just  as  the  individual  con¬ 
gregation  is  the  unit  of  construction  in  the  church  uni¬ 
versal,  or  the  holy  temple  of  Christ.  These  two  units, 
the  individual  congregation  and  the  individual  Christian, 
are  the  only  units  of  construction  in  the  New  Testament 
church;  and  these  units  are,  therefore,  the  only  units  of 
union  in  Christian  unity.  These  units  of  union  need  to 
be  clearly  understood,  because  there  has  been  much  time 
wasted  in  efforts  to  unite  larger  religious  units,  or  bodies, 

i 

such  as  Convocations,  Assemblies,  Conferences,  Presby¬ 
teries,  Associations,  Conventions,  etc.,  all  of  which  are 
unknown  in  the  organization  of  the  Apostolic  church. 
They  may  be  expediences  of  a  divided  church;  but  they 
cannot  be  made  units  of  union  in  a  united  church.  All 
such  are  denominational  organizations  that  belong  to  a 
divided  church,  but  can  have  no  place  or  part  as  units 
of  union  in  a  united  church.  All  such  organizations  will 
have  to  be  dissolved,  and  all  return  to  the  simple  polity 
of  the  New  Testament  church,  which  had  no  organiza¬ 
tion  above  the  local  congregation,  before  Christian  unity, 
according  to  Paul’s  plan,  can  be  realized.  This  does  not 
mean  the  dissolution  of  organizations  for  Christian  work, 
such  as  missionary  and  benevolent  societies,  which  are 
agencies  of  the  church  and  not  ecclesiastical  organiza¬ 
tions.  The  church  may  employ  any  righteous  agency, 
but  must  conform  to  the  divine  pattern  in  organization. 
“  See  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern 
that  was  shown  thee  in  the  mount,”  was  the  instruction 
given  to  Moses  in  building  the  Tabernacle;  and  the 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  91 


writer  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  enjoins  the  same  upon 
the  builders  of  the  church.  In  fact,  denominationalism 
with  all  its  machinery,  paraphernalia  and  language  is  the 
price  of  Christian  unity ;  and  nothing  less  will  secure  it. 
Denominationalism  is  the  offspring  of  division,  so,  of 
course,  could  not  be  brought  over  into  a  united  church. 

Furthermore,  a  return  to  the  simple  polity  of  the  New 
Testament  church  makes  Christian  unity  easy  and  feas¬ 
ible,  because  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  unite  individual  con¬ 
gregations  and  individual  Christians ;  whereas  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  unite  the  great  denominational  units.  If  we 
have  to  sit  and  wait  for  unity,  until  the  great  denomina¬ 
tions  decide  and  vote  to  unite  with  all  others,  we  will  be 
divided  unto  the  end ;  but,  if  every  individual  congrega¬ 
tion  and  Christian  in  a  community  could  be  made  free 
and  willing  to  act  for  themselves,  Christian  unity  would 
be  greatly  facilitated.  For  instance,  there  are  numbers 
of  congregations  and  Christians  in  many  communities  to¬ 
day  that  want  to  unite,  and  would  unite ;  but  each  is  tied 
up  to  some  greater  ecclesiastical  organization,  and  has  to 
wait  until  these  larger  bodies  act.  Christian  unity  has 
practical  meaning  only  with  reference  to  the  local  con¬ 
gregations  and  individual  Christians  of  a  community. 
With  reference  to  the  congregation,  it  is  a  union  of  all 
congregations  of  disciples  of  Christ  in  a  community ; 
and  with  reference  to  the  Christian  it  is  a  union  of  all 
Christians  in  the  same.  When  the  Christians  of  a  com¬ 
munity  come  together,  and  as  individual  units  or  “  living 
stones  ”  are  organized  into  a  church,  they  “  are  builded 
together  for  a  habitation  of  God  in  the  Spirit and 
“each  several  building,  (thus)  fitly  framed  together, 
groweth  into  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord/’  or  becomes  a 
unit  in  the  united  universal  church  of  Christ.  These  two 
units,  the  congregation  and  the  Christian,  are  the  only 


92 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


Scriptural  units  in  Christian  unity,  so  all  efforts  for  unity 
ought,  therefore,  to  be  directed  toward  the  union  of 
these. 

Recapitulation 

To  summarize  Paul’s  plan  for  Christian  unity,  as  each 
individual  Christian  and  congregation,  animated  by  the 
love  of  God  that  knows  no  alienation  nor  defeat,  accept 
Christ  as  the  common  standard  of  authority,  and  thereby 
remove  their  differences,  and  become  reconciled  in  one 
body  through  the  cross,  and  thereby  have  a  common  ac¬ 
cess  to  the  Father,  and  form  a  democratic  brotherhood 
or  church,  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
of  the  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  being  the  chief  cornerstone, 
they  are  prepared,  according  to  Paul’s  plan,  to  enter  into 
the  unity  of  the  one  fold  of  Christ,  for  which  Christ  prayed 
and  Paul  worked ;  and,  under  these  essential  conditions  of 
unity,  they  automatically  enter  into  the  same. 

This  is  Paul’s  plan,  so  let  no  individual  or  denomina¬ 
tion  make  claim  to  the  same,  but  let  all  accept  it,  and 
unite  by  it.  It  is  the  only  undenominational  plan,  be¬ 
cause  it  was  formed  centuries  before  any  of  the  modern 
denominations  existed,  so  it  has  no  denominational  bias 
or  sectarian  associations  to  prejudice  any  one  against  it. 
It  is  also  the  only  Scriptural  plan,  because  all  that  is 
claimed  for  other  plans  is  that  they  are  only  deductions 
from  the  Scriptures,  while  every  step  or  item  in  the 
above  plan  was  expressly  prescribed  verbatim  by  the 
divinely  inspired  apostle  Paul.  While  we  have  analyzed 
and  commented  on  the  several  items  or  steps  in  this  plan, 
we  were  careful  to  add  to  or  take  nothing  from  it.  The 
comments  are  ours ;  the  plan  is  Paul’s.  Furthermore,  it 
is  the  only  truly  catholic  plan,  the  only  plan  that  all  can 
accept.  It  contains  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  final 
essential  deposit  of  Christianity,  as  conceived  and  stated 


THE  PLAN  FOR  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  93 


by  Paul,  the  master-builder  of  Christianity.  No  other 
plan  offers  a  program  that  appeals  to  all  communions. 
It  is  also  the  only  practical  plan,  because  no  other  plan 
has  succeeded  in  uniting  a  divided  church,  while  it  suc¬ 
cessfully  united  all  the  sects  of  Paul’s  day,  and  main¬ 
tained  unity  in  the  church  for  several  hundred  years ;  and 
it  will  do  the  same  to-day,  if  it  is  only  given  a  fair  trial. 
Unity  by  this  plan,  of  course,  would  be  a  drastic  and  far- 
reaching  step  on  the  part  of  the  churches  to-day — one 
that  involves  many  denominational  sacrifices.  This  is 
what  makes  all  hesitate  and  draw  back  from  such  a 
union.  To  be  sure,  only  by  the  sacrifice  of  everything 
sectarian  and  denominational,  can  Christian  unity  be  real¬ 
ized,  because  unity,  purchased  at  any  less  price,  would 
be  only  a  continuation,  more  or  less,  of  sectarianism. 
'Lastly,  Paul’s  plan  is  the  only  perfect  plan,  lacking  noth¬ 
ing  necessary  to  unite  the  whole  Christian  world,  except 
to  be  accepted  and  tried.  So  therefore  let  us  all  accept 
it,  and  unite  upon  it. 


IX 


THE  DYNAMIC  FOR  UNITY 

FOR  this  cause  I  Paul,  the  prisoner  of  Christ  Jesus  in 
behalf  of  you  Gentiles, — if  so  be  that  ye  have  heard  of 
the  dispensation  of  the  grace  of  God  which  was  given 
to  you  ward ;  how  that  by  revelation  was  made  known 
unto  me  the  mystery,  as  I  wrote  before  in  few  words,  whereby, 
when  ye  read,  ye  can  perceive  my  understanding  in  the  mystery 
of  Christ ;  which  in  other  generations  was  not  made  known  unto 
the  sons  of  men,  as  it  hath  now  been  revealed  unto  his  holy 
apostles  and  prophets  in  the  spirit;  to  wit,  that  the  Gentiles  are 
fellow-heirs,  and  fellow-members  of  the  body,  and  fellow-par¬ 
takers  of  the  promise  in  Christ  Jesus  through  the  Gospel, 
whereof  I  was  made  a  minister,  according  to  the  gift  of  that 
grace  of  God  which  was  given  me  according  to  the  working 
of  his  power.  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than  least  of  the  saints, 
was  this  grace  given,  to  preach  unto  the  Gentiles  the  unsearch¬ 
able  riches  of  Christ;  and  to  make  all  men  see  what  is  the  dis¬ 
pensation  of  the  mystery  which  for  ages  hath  been  hid  in  God, 
who  created  all  things ;  to  the  intent  that  now  unto  the  princi¬ 
palities  and  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  might  be  made  known 
through  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  according  to 
the  eternal  purpose  which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord: 
in  whom  we  have  boldness  and  access  in  confidence  through  our 
faith  in  him.  Wherefore  I  ask  that  ye  may  not  faint  at  my 
tribulations  for  you,  which  are  your  glory. 

“  For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father,  from  whom 
every  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,  that  he  would  grant 
you,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  that  ye  may  be 
strengthened  with  power  through  his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man; 
that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  through  faith;  to  the  end 
that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  strong  to 
apprehend  with  all  the  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and 
height  and  depth,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth 
all  knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fullness  of  God. 

“  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh 
in  us,  unto  him  be  the  glory  in  the  church  and  in  Christ  unto  all 
generations  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen.”  3 : 1-21. 

04 


THE  DYNAMIC  FOR  UNITY 


95 


In  the  above  paragraphs  Paul  sets  out  at  some  length 
the  dynamic  for  Christian  unity,  which  is  Christian 
prayer.  Every  one  realizes  the  greatness  of  the  task  of 
uniting  the  church.  In  fact,  many  look  upon  it  as  im¬ 
possible  ;  and  even  those  who  know  most  about  the  situa¬ 
tion  and  problem,  and  are  working  for  the  solution  of 
the  same,  admit  that  it  is  a  stupendous  undertaking,  and 
there  are  yet  mountains  of  difficulties  and  obstacles  in 
the  way  to  be  removed  before  Christian  unity  can  come. 
Furthermore,  when  we  consider  the  high  plain  and  strict 
requirements  of  Paul’s  plan  for  unity,  as  set  forth  in  the 
preceding  paragraph,  the  task  grows  upon  us,  until  we 
are  ready  to  say  it  can  never  be.  It  is,  indeed,  a  great 
task,  and  no  one  knew  this  better  than  the  Apostle  Paul. 
He  knew  that  nothing  could  accomplish  it  except  the  very 
power,  or  dynamite  of  God,  which  is  Christian  prayer. 
Christian  prayer  is  the  only  power  or  dynamic  in  the 
hands  of  man  that  can  break  down  all  the  walls  of  oppo¬ 
sition,  and  blow  up  and  level  down  all  the  mountains  of 
difficulties  in  the  way. 

The  church  to-day  does  not  seem  to  realize  the  power 
of  Christian  prayer.  It  brings  one  into  direct  touch  with 
God,  who  is  omnipotent  power.  It  is  the  spiritual  medium 
or  connection  between  God  and  man,  connecting  man 
with  the  great  power-house  of  God.  Wherefore,  Paul 
writes,  “  I  can  do  all  things  through  him  that  strength- 
eneth  me.”  This  was  his  approach  to  all  the  great  tasks 
which  he  undertook  and  accomplished,  the  greatest  of 
which  was  no  doubt  the  unity  of  the  church.  “  For  this 
cause  I  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father,”  he  writes  in  the 
beginning  of  his  prayer  for  Christian  unity;  and  he  de¬ 
votes  more  space  to  prayer  than  to  any  other  subject, 
which  shows  the  importance  and  value  attached  to  prayer 
in  his  plan  for  Christian  unity ;  and  he  prayed  his  longest 


96 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


recorded  prayer,  vs.  14-21,  for  Christian  unity,  which 
is  also  significant.  It  is  also  a  significant  fact  that 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  prayed  for  the  unity  of  His 
disciples.  He  did  not  command  it ;  nor  did  He  argue  for 
it;  but  He  simply  prayed  for  it.  Jno.  17:20-21.  Both 
Christ  and  Paul  approached  the  problems  of  Christian 
evangelization  and  unity  on  their  knees,  and  so  com¬ 
manded  his  followers,  saying,  “  Pray  ye  therefore  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  send  forth  labourers  into 
his  vineyard,”  “  Neither  for  these  only  do  I  pray,  but 
for  them  also  that  believe  on  me  through  their  word; 
that  they  all  may  be  one;  even  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in 
me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  in  us,  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  Thou  didst  send  me.”  ■ 

Prayer  is  the  golden  key  that  unlocks  the  doors  for  the 
Christian  evangelization  of  the  world,  and  opens  up  the 
way  for  the  unity  of  all  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Where¬ 
fore,  Paul  never  went  forth  upon  his  missions  of  evan¬ 
gelizing  and  uniting  the  world  without  this  miraculous 
key.  He  trusted  nothing  else  to  lead  him  to  victory. 
He  knew  the  power  of  the  Gospel  and  the  drawing  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  church,  which,  as  he  shows  in  this  letter, 
is  all-sufficient  in  plan  and  purpose,  head  and  terms  of 
entrance  to  bring  together  and  unite  all ;  and  he  unfolds 
a  practical  plan  for  the  unity  of  the  church ;  yet  he  real¬ 
ized  that  prayer  was  the  only  power  that  could  bring 
this  about.  In  other  words,  there  must  be  a  great  dynamic 
from  within  to  execute  the  above  plans  and  purposes  of 
the  church,  which  is  prayer;  and  in  no  other  way  can 
the  world  be  wrought  to  Christ  and  unity  in  him.  We 
have  tried  debates  and  discussions,  but  have  made  little 
progress  in  evangelizing  and  uniting  the  world.  You 
can  not  argue  people  into  Christ  and  unity,  but  you 
can  pray  them  into  the  same.  So  therefore  Paul  writes* 


THE  DYNAMIC  FOR  UNITY 


97 


“  For  this  cause,”  giving  at  length  his  reasons  for  prayer, 
and  then  offered  a  prayer  in  behalf  of  unity  such  as 
never  before  nor  since  was  uttered  by  man.  It  is  a  mar¬ 
vel  of  wisdom  and  devotion,  and  lifts  one  up  into  the 
mysteries,  devotions  and  glories  of  the  eternal  Father. 
It  calls  out  all  that  is  highest  and  best  in  man,  and  opens 
up  the  great  possibilities  and  reaches  of  the  soul  in  its 
quest  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  This  prayer  and 
his  reasons  for  prayer  let  us  now  consider. 

The  first  reason  Paul  gives  for  his  praying  is  “  the 
grace  of  God.”  Paul  had  received  not  only  the  good¬ 
ness  of  God  in  general  that  is  poured  out  upon  the  whole 
race ;  but  also  a  special  “  dispensation  of  that  grace  of 
God  was  given  me  to  you  ward,”  in  that  he  was  the 
divinely  chosen  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  and  received  by 
direct  revelation  “  the  mystery  of  Christ,  *  *  *  the 

Gospel,  whereof  I  was  made  a  minister  according  to  the 
gift  of  that  grace  which  was  given  me  according  to  the 
working  of  his  power.”  Accordingly,  whenever  Paul 
thought  thus  of  God’s  goodness  to  him,  it  brought  him 
to  his  knees.  No  one  can  fully  realize  the  goodness  of 
God  without  praying;  but  only  the  appreciative  grateful 
souls  like  Paul  seem  to  realize  what  God  has  done  for 
them. 

Another  reason  for  Paul’s  praying  was  his  weakness 
and  insignificance.  “  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than  the 
least  of  all  the  saints ,  was  this  grace  given.”  Paul,  like 
all  truly  great  souls,  realized  his  littleness  and  weakness, 
his  utter  dependence  upon  God,  which  brought  him  to 
his  knees  before  God,  the  giver  of  all  blessings.  This 
explains  these  enigmatic  words  in  another  letter,  “  My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee :  for  my  power  is  made  perfect 
in  weakness.  Most  gladly  will  I  therefore  glory  in  my 
weaknesses,  *  *  *  for  when  I  am  weak,  then  am  I 


98 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


strong.”  The  realization  of  his  weakness  brought  him 
in  prayer  to  God,  who  was  his  strength ;  and  then  he  was 
strong.  This  gave  him  confidence  to  undertake  great 
things  for  Christ,  “  in  whom  we  have  boldness  and  con¬ 
fidence  through  our  faith  in  him,”  as  he  states  it.  Paul 
realized  his  weakness  and  need  of  divine  strength  in 
working  for  the  unity  of  the  church,  so  he  prayed  a  fer¬ 
vent,  wonderful  prayer  in  behalf  of  unity,  which  contains 
many  important  lessons  for  those  that  are  working  toward 
the  solution  of  this  problem. 

Note  first  that  he  prays  “  unto  the  Father,  from  whom 
every  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named.”  God  is 
the  universal  Father,  the  head  of  all  the  families  of 
earth,  so  all  belong  to  one  family,  and  ought,  therefore 
to  be  one.  There  is  nothing  worse  than  a  divided  family ; 
and  for  the  great  family  of  God  to  be  divided  is  the 
greatest  injury  that  can  befall  the  cause  of  Christ. 

He  prays  first  “  that  ye  be  strengthened  with  power 
through  his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man.”  Paul,  realizing 
the  greatness  of  the  task  of  uniting  the  church,  knew 
that  great  spiritual  strength  would  be  required  to  accom¬ 
plish  so  great  a  work.  It  is  a  Herculean  task;  and  only 
strong  men  need  to  undertake  it.  However,  it  is  encour¬ 
aging  to  know  that  the  strong  men  in  every  communion 
are  working  at  the  task;  and,  if  the  whole  church  would 
join  with  Paul  in  praying  that  they  be  given  "a  mighty 
increase  in  strength,”  the  thing  can  and  will  be  done. 

Next  he  prays  “that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts 
through  faith.”  The  indwelling  of  Christ  in  the  hearts 
of  Christians  is  an  essential  to  unity,  because  it  is  an 
easy  matter  to  unite  people  that  really  have  Christ  in 
their  hearts.  There  are  so  many  people  in  the  church, 
to  whom  Christ  and  Christianity  is  a  mere  theory,  a 
system  of  doctrine  or  philosophy,  and  in  whom  there  is 


THE  DYNAMIC  FOR  UNITY 


99 


no  real  indwelling  of  Christ  through  faith,  that  unity  is 
made  difficult.  Christianity  is  not  a  system  of  moral 
and  religious  philosophy  but  a  spiritual  indwelling  life, 
the  Christ-life,  the  germ  of  which  is  planted  in  the  heart 
through  faith  in  Christ  thus,  “  Whosoever  believeth  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ  is  begotten  of  God;”  and,  when  he  is 
“  born  of  the  water  and  the  Spirit,”  he  is  “  a  new  crea¬ 
ture,” — a  new  living  religious  being  that  grows  and  de¬ 
velops  in  the  heart  and  life  of  man.  Without  this  Christ- 
life  in  the  heart,  one  cannot  be  a  real  living  Christian, 
(“He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life;  and  he  that  hath 
not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  life.”)  Christian  unity  has 
no  meaning  with  reference  to  the  latter;  and  it  is  futile 
to  undertake  to  unite  such  people.  In  fact,  these  are  the 
very  people  in  the  church  that  cause  trouble  and  division ; 
while  on  the  other  hand  the  people  that  cause  little  or 
no  trouble  in  the  church  are  those  that  have  Christ  in 
their  hearts,  and  live  the  Christ-life;  and  it  is  an  easy 
matter  to  unite  and  keep  united  all  those  that  have  Christ 
dwelling  in  their  hearts  and  reigning  over  their  lives. 
Christian  unity  is,  therefore,  a  matter  largely  of  making 
real  Christians  out  of  people;  and  then  Christian  unity 
will  come  of  itself. 

Paul’s  next  petition  in  his  prayer  is,  that  they  be 
“  rooted  and  grounded  in  love.”  This  is  a  far  step 
toward  unity,  because,  when  people  are  “  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,”  they  are  prepared  to  unite  with  all 
Christians.  Love  is  the  motive  passion  that  makes  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  possible ;  and  the  fervent  heat  of  true  Christian 
love  is  the  only  influence  that  can  melt  and  unite  human 
hearts  in  a  lasting  bond  of  unity.  So  then,  the  stronger 
the  passion  and  the  warmer  the  flame  the  easier  and  more 
lasting  the  unity.  Wherefore  Paul  prays  for  much  and 
strong  love,  that  they  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  love, 


100 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


that  they  grow  up  out  of  love  as  plants  out  of  the  soil, 
and  that  love  be  of  their  very  nature  and  being  as  the 
plants  are  of  the  soil,  from  which  they  spring.  When 
love  is  thus  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  Christians,  they  will 
gladly  and  naturally  unite. 

Lastly,  Paul  prays  that  they  “be  strong  to  apprehend 
with  all  the  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and 
height  and  depth,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which 
passeth  knowledge/’ — in  other  words,  that  they  be 
strong  enough  and  big  enough  to  take  in  the  vision  of 
the  love  of  God.  When  people  get  this  vision  clearly 
in  their  minds  and  hearts,  that  God’s  love  is  immeasur¬ 
able  and  includes  the  whole  redeemed  world  and  not  the 
little  sect  alone,  of  which  they  are  members,  then  they 
will  follow  this  vision  into  the  one  fold  of  all  God’s  peo¬ 
ple.  However,  only  big  and  strong  men  are  able  to  ap¬ 
prehend  thus  the  vision  of  God’s  love  and  to  know  the 
love  of  Christ  which  is  beyond  human  comprehension. 
This  vision  staggers  and  overwhelms  the  ordinary  soul 
in  its  climb  toward  God.  Many  of  us  will  have  to  grow 
into  bigger  and  stronger  souls,  before  we  can  take  it  in, 
and  follow  its  leadings  toward  Christian  unity.  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  is,  therefore,  a  matter  of  making  little  souls 
into  big  souls,-— big  enough  to  take  in  God  and  all  his 
people.  How  big  does  God  expect  Christians  to  become  ? 
Paul  says,  “  filled  unto  all  the  fullness  of  God.”  But 
this  is  beyond  the  possible  for  man’s  development. 
Notice,  however,  that  Paul  says,  “  be  filled.”  Man  can 
not  fill  himself  to  this  extent ;  but  God  can ;  so,  if  man 
will  open  his  heart  and  soul  to  God,  and  place  his  soul 
in  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  soul  has  infinite  possi¬ 
bilities.  John  says,  “  It  doth  not  appear  what  we  shall 
be.”  At  any  rate,  man  reaches  his  highest  development 
in  contact  with  other  souls;  and  the  larger  the  fellow- 


THE  DYNAMIC  FOR  UNITY 


101 


ship  the  larger  the  growth  of  the  soul.  This  is  why 
sectarianism  produces  little  souls,  and  unity  big  souls. 
God,  therefore,  planned  “  one  fold  and  one  Shepherd  ” 
for  his  people,  that  “  they  may  go  in  and  out,  and  find 
pasture  for  their  souls,”  and  grow  “  into  the  fullness  of 
God.” 

In  concluding  his  prayer  Paul  seemed  to  realize  that 
many  would  think  that  he  had  asked  for  too  much,  even 
the  impossible ;  but  he  assures  us  that  God  “  is  able  to 
do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,” 
— even  more  than  he  had  asked  for  or  thought  of.  God’s 
arm  is  not  shortened;  nor  is  the  soul  that  is  committed 
to  Jesus  Christ  limited  in  its  reaches  toward  God. 

But  God  does  not  propose  to  do  all  this,  or,  in  fact, 
anything  for  man  without  man's  co-operation.  What 
He  does  is  “  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us 
We  cannot  sit  idle  wfith  folded  hands,  and  expect  God 

to  do  wonders  in  us  and  for  us,  because  He  works  ac- 

• 

cording  to  and  through  the  power  that  is  in  us.  In 
other  words  He  uses  the  powers  of  men  and  women  to 
do  His  work ;  and  through  Jesus  Christ  He  leads  all  those 
that  commit  themselves  by  prayer  to  Him  into  marvelous 
victories  and  wonderful  achievements.  “  In  all  these 
things  ye  are  more  than  conquerors  through  him  that 
loved  us.”  “And  greater  works  than  these  (the  works 
of  Christ)  shall  ye  do;  because  I  go  unto  the  Father.” 
“  And  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world.”  Thus  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Father  co-operates 
with  his  disciples  to  do  the  will  of  God.  So  “  We  are 
workers  together  with  God,”  says  Paul ;  and  God  “  is 
able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  more  than  we  ask  or 
think ;”  and  He  will  do  wonders  through  us,  if  only  we 
pray  and  work. 

Paul  herein  gives  us  the  secret  to  the  solution  of  the 


102 


THE  CHURCH  FOR  ALL 


problem  of  Christian  unity  and  every  other  great  work 
that  is  assigned  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Accordingly, 
Christian  unity  will  come,  when  all  Christians  begin  to 
pray  and  work  for  the  same ;  and  Paul  tells  us,  further¬ 
more,  that  it  will  come  “in  the  church  and  in  Christ 
Jesus  ” — “  unto  him  be  the  glory  in  the  church  and  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  all  generations  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen.”  In  no  other  institution,  such  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
or  Knights  of  Columbus,  etc.,  can  Christian  unity  be  real¬ 
ized  ;  and  in  no  other  person,  such  as  Mrs.  Eddy,  Pastor 
Russell,  etc.,  can  it  be  realized.  It  must  be  a  unity  in 
and  of  the  church  and  in  and  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  this, 
too,  “  unto  all  generations  for  ever  and  ever.” 

Thus  Paul  concludes  the  first  half  of  his  letter,' setting 
forth  the  church  for  all .  He  has  shown  it  to  be  all- 
sufficient  in  plan  and  purpose,  in  head  and  in  terms  of 
entrance  for  all,  has  outlined  a  complete,  practicable  plan 
for  the  unity  of  the  same,  and  has  given  the  key  to  the 
realization  of  this  unity,  which  is  prayer.  The  church 
as  herein  conceived  and  set  forth  is  a  church  for  all, — a 
truly  catholic  cosmopolitan  church.  This  was  the  ideal 
for  the  church  as  conceived  by  God  and  executed  by 
Paul,  the  wise  master-builder  of  the  church.  Christ  in 
founding  this  church  and  Paul  in  building  it  rose  above 
their  religious  and  racial  environment,  and  organized  a 
church  for  all  ages  and  races  of  men, — a  church  that 
meets  all  the  needs  of  the  universal  man.  It  contains 
nothing  sectarian,  racial  or  national,  and  appeals  to  all 
alike.  However,  on  account  of  division  it  has  been  sec- 
tarianized,  and  in  some  places  nationalized,  so  it  is  the 
task  of  the  church  to-day  to  restore  its  original  univer¬ 
sality  and  unity;  and  Paul  in  this  letter  has  opened  up 
the  way. 


PART  II 

ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 

Eph.  4-6 


X 


CHARACTER 

» 

WITH  chapter  three  Paul  closes  the  first  part  of 
his  letter,  setting  forth  The  Church  For  All ; 
and  with  chapter  four  he  begins  the  last  part, 
which  he  devotes  to  the  people  that  make  up  The  Church 
For  All.  Having  set  forth  The  Church  For  All,  he  com¬ 
pletes  his  letter  with  an  exposition  of  the  complementary 
theme,  All  For  The  Church.  Having  shown  that  the 
church  of  Christ  is  for  all  and  is  all-sufficient  in  all  re¬ 
spects,  he  shows  next  that  all  must  be  for  the  church, 
which  completes  the  ideal  for  the  church. 

The  Church  For  All,  as  conceived  and  set  forth  by 
Paul  in  the  first  part  of  his  letter  is  a  high  ideal ;  but, 
had  he  stopped  here,  such  a  church  would  have  been 
weak,  worthless  and  selfish.  To  be  in  the  church  and  not 
for  the  church  weakens  and  degrades  the  church.  In 
fact,  herein  lie  the  weakness  and  selfishness  of  the  church 
to-day.  There  are  so  many  in  the  church  that  are  not 
for  the  church  that  it  is  burdened  with  its  own  weight, 
and  all  such  members  look  upon  the  church  as  existing 
for  them,  which  is  religious  selfishness.  Weakness  and 
selfishness  are  the  inevitable  results  of  being  in  the  church 
and  not  for  the  church.  Strength  is  not  gained  through 
numbers,  but  efforts ;  nor  is  efficiency  secured  by  enlist¬ 
ing  a  multitude  but  by  leading  those  enlisted  into  active 
service.  It  is  one  thing  to  be  in  the  church  and  another 
to  be  for  the  church.  Paul  required  both  in  his  ideal  for 

the  church.  He  set  forth  the  church  for  all,  and  then 

105 


106 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


required  all  to  be  for  the  church,  which  he  makes  the 
theme  of  the  latter  half  of  his  letter. 

However,  few  people  in  the  church  seem  to  realize  that 
they  must  be  for  the  church.  Many  have  been  in  the 
church  for  years,  and  have  been  regular  attendants  upon 
the  services  of  the  same;  but  they  have  seldom  or  never 
done  anything  for  the  church ;  they  have  never  realized 
the  active  practical  side  of  church  membership.  Unless 
people  are  for  the  church,  it  is  useless  to  be  in  the  church. 
Church  membership  in  and  of  itself  is  worthless  and 
amounts  to  nothing,  unless  it  goes  further  and  proves  to 
be  actively  for  the  church.  Wherefore  Paul  teaches  that 
all  in  the  church  must  be  for  the  church,  which  is  the 
theme  of  the  last  part  of  his  letter. 

This  theme,  All  For  The  Church ,  like  the  preceding 
theme,  The  Church  For  All,  is  a  logical  part  of  the  major 
theme  of  the  Ephesian  Letter,  Christian  Unity ;  and  it  is 
so  treated  by  Paul.  The  two  themes  are  complementary 
halves  of  the  major  theme,  Christian  unity.  The  Church 
For  All  is  an  essential  prerequisite  to  unity ;  and  All  For 
The  Church  is  the  practical  realization  of  the  same. 
Without  the  latter  Christian  unity  would  be  a  mere 
theory.  The  former  is  an  essential  means  to  the  latter ; 
and  each  is  an  essential  to  Christian  unity.  Without  a 
church  for  all  Christian  unity  would  be  impossible ;  and 
without  all  being  for  the  church  it  would  be  stagnant, 
impractical  and  worthless.  A  church  with  everybody  in 
it  with  no  one  for  the  church  would  be  static  and  stag¬ 
nant  ;  and  such  a  unity  would  not  be  Christian  unity. 
There  is  such  a  unity  of  waters  in  the  Dead  Sea, — a  unity 
of  inactivity  and  death ;  while  on  the  other  hand  there  is 
a  unity  of  waters  in  the  Sea  of  Galilee, — a  unity  of  ac¬ 
tivity  and  life.  Such  is  Christian  unity,- — a  unity  of 
Christian  lives  and  characters  in  ceaseless  activity  and 


CHARACTER 


107 


life,  a  great  stream  of  redeemed  humanity  flowing  on 
toward  the  Sea  of  Eternal  Life.  This  active  realization 
of  Christian  unity  Paul  sets  forth  in  the  latter  half  of  his 
letter,  which  we  now  propose  to  study.  He  teaches  that 
all  must  be  for  the  church,  and  prescribes  the  essential 
respects  in  which  everyone  must  be  for  the  church,  the 
first  of  which  is  Character. 

“  I  therefore,  the  prisoner  in  the  Lord,  beseech  you  to  walk 
worthily  of  the  calling  wherewith  ye  were  called,  with  all  lowli¬ 
ness  and  meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one  another 
in  love;  giving  diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
bonds  of  peace.”  4:1-3. 

Paul  in  the  above  enjoins  upon  all  members  of  the 
church  “  lowliness,  meekness,  long-suffering,  forbear¬ 
ance,  love,  diligence  and  peace,”  which  are  distinctively 
Christian  traits  of  character, — the  first  essential  respect 
in  which  all  must  be  for  the  church.  All  must  possess 
or  develop  a  character  that  will  be  for  the  church  and 
not  against  the  church;  and  Paul  prescribes  the  above  as 
the  kind  of  character  that  will  be  for  the  church.  With¬ 
out  a  character  “  worthy  of  the  calling  wherewith  they 
were  called  ”  the  church  would  be  stultified  and  brought 
into  disrepute  and  reproach,  because  the  church  stands 
first  of  all  for  Christian  character ;  and  all  that  come  into 
the  church  must,  therefore,  be  true  to  this  high  calling. 
No  greater  injury  and  betrayal  can  befall  the  church 
than  to  be  placed  in  a  false  light  before  the  world  by  the 
unworthy  characters  of  professed  members.  Christians 
are  “  epistles  of  Christ,  known  and  read  of  all  men,”  so 
all,  therefore,  must  see  to  it  that  their  lives  and  charac¬ 
ters  properly  and  truly  represent  and  portray  Christ  and 
his  church,  and  are  thereby  for  the  same. 

Paul,  therefore,  prescribed  character  as  the  first  essen¬ 
tial  respect  in  which  all  must  be  for  the  church ;  and  in 


108 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


so  doing  he  followed  the  example  and  teaching  of  Christ 
Himself,  who  gave  character  the  primacy  over  everything 
in  ethics  and  religion.  According  to  Christ  character 
was  of  paramount  and  superlative  importance,  and  was 
the  first  essential  requirement  of  those  who  would  enter 
His  kingdom.  He  rejected  in  strong  words  those  who 
sought  to  enter  without  a  becoming  character.  To  the 
self-righteous  corrupt  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  posed 
as  religious  leaders,  he  spoke  his  severest  words.  “  Woe 
unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !  for  ye 
cleanse  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter,  but 
within  they  are  full  from  extortion  and  excess.  Thou 
blind  Pharisee,  cleanse  first  the  inside  of  the  cup  and  of 
the  platter,  that  the  outside  thereof  may  become  clean 
also.  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites! 
for  ye  are  likened  unto  whitened  sepulchres,  which  out¬ 
wardly  appear  beautiful,  but  inwardly  are  full  of  dead 
men’s  bones,  and  of  all  uncleanness.  Even  so  ye  also 
outwardly  appear  righteous  unto  men,  but  inwardly  ye 
are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity.”  Here  were  men  that 
had  everything  except  character;  but  according  to  Christ 
without  this  they  were  despicable.  Christ  in  all  His  teach¬ 
ing  and  conduct  declared  for  the  sovereignty  of  charac¬ 
ter,  and  founded  His  kingdom  upon  character;  and  to 
have  admitted  people  without  worthy  characters  into  His 
kingdom  and  church  would  have  been  suicidal  for  His 
cause.  In  founding  His  kingdom  on  the  sovereignty  of 
character  He  gave  radiant  and  conclusive  proof  of  His 
wisdom  and  divinity ;  and  the  rapid  spread  and  progress 
and  the  universal  appeal  of  this  kingdom  to  all  men  of 
all  ages  and  races  have  fully  confirmed  the  wisdom  of 
this  foundation. 

Christ  Jesus  not  only  declared  for  the  sovereignty  of 
character  and  founded  His  kingdom  upon  the  same,  but 


CHARACTER 


109 


He  revealed  a  new  and  definite  type  of  character  for  His 
followers.  In  delivering  the  constitution  or  manifesto  of 
Christianity  in  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount  He  gave  first 
the  following  traits  of  character,  namely,  humility,  pa¬ 
tience,  meekness,  righteousness,  mercy,  purity,  peace,  and 
loyalty  to  conscience  as  constituent  parts  of  Christian 
character.  Heretofore  many  of  these  traits  had  not  been 
looked  upon  as  even  desirable,  much  less  being  worthy 
of  being  put  into  the  foundation  of  a  new  kingdom  and 
religion ;  but  Christ  even  made  them  sources  of  happiness. 
Such  a  character  and  such  happiness  were  never  thought 
of  before;  and  to  make  them  the  foundation  of  a  new 
kingdom  and  religion  was  inconceivable  to  the  people  of 
that  day  with  their  standards  and  prepossessions.  No 
such  kingdom  was  ever  before  conceived  and  built ;  but 
it  is  the  most  real  and  most  powerful  kingdom  in  the 
world  to-day ;  and  it  has  been  so  almost  from  the  begin¬ 
ning,  because  it  was  founded  upon  character  which  is  the 
source  of  all  true  happiness. 

Accordingly,  Christ  in  his  teaching  spent  much  time  in 
emphasizing  and  elaborating  Christian  character,  which 
he  put  into  the  foundation  of  Christianity.  He  analyzed 
it,  illustrated  it,  and  revealed  it  in  every  possible  way. 
He  incarnated  it  in  Himself;  and  inspired  His  biogra¬ 
phers,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  to  record  it  for  all 
future  ages ;  and  it  has  come  down  to  us  as  the  blessed 
heritage  of  the  race.  Also  those  sent  out  under  the  great 
commission  likewise  taught  it.  Paul  embodied  and  re¬ 
vealed  it  in  almost  every  sermon  and  letter  that  he  wrote. 
According  to  his  statement  above  from  his  letter  to  the 
Ephesians,  Christian  character  consists  of : 

(i)  “ All  lowliness,” — deep  and  genuine  humility  that 
is  the  sure  mark  of  a  great  soul.  Every 
truly  great  soul  realizes  his  human  limitations. 


110 


ALL  FOE  THE  CHURCH 


and  assumes  a  lowly  attitude  of  mind  and 
body;  but  the  little  soul  that  is  unable  to  see 
anything  greater  than  himself  is  proud  and 
haughty. 

(2)  “Meekness” — that  inner  trait  of  the  soul  that 

shuns  arrogance  and  presumption.  It  is  the 
inner  trait  of  which  lowliness  is  the  outer. 

(3)  “ Long-suffering ” — the  patience  that  bears  up 

under  all  the  burdens  and  responsibilities  of 
life  with  a  fortitude  that  does  not  wince  nor 
whine. 

(4)  "  Forbearing,” — that  rare  trait  of  character  that 

can  bear  and  forgive  personal  offences  and  in¬ 
juries. 

(5)  “Love,” — that  greatest  of  traits  without  which  a 

man  is  nothing,  which  Paul  sets  forth  in 
I  Cor.  13. 

(6)  “  Diligence,” — that  energy  of  body  and  soul  that 

keeps  one  active  “  about  the  Father’s  business.” 

(7)  "  Peace,” — that  perfect  poise  of  the  soul  that 

comes  from  the  adjustment  of  the  inner  man 
to  the  stress  of  all  things  outward,  and  mani¬ 
fests  itself  by  maintaining  peace  with  self  and 
all  others. 

The  above  seven  traits  are  distinctively  Christian,  be¬ 
cause  they  are  the  distinctive  traits  in  the  character  of 
Christ. 

In  addition  to  the  above  statement  of  Christian  char¬ 
acter,  Paul  gives  similar  statements  in  his  other  letters. 
To  the  Corinthians  he  writes,  “  Now  abideth  faith,  hope 
and  love,  these  three ;  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love.” 
To  the  Galatians,  “  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy , 
peace,  long-suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness , 
meekness,  self-control ,  against  such  there  is  no  law.”  To 


CHARACTER 


111 


the  Philippians,  “If  there  is  therefore  any  exhortation  in 
Christ,  if  any  consolation  of  love,  if  any  fellowship  of 
the  Spirit,  if  any  tender  mercies  and  compassions ,  make 
full  my  joy,  that  ye  be  of  the  same  mind,  having  the  same 
love,  being  of  one  accord  (agreeableness)  ;  doing  nothing 
through  faction  or  through  vainglory  (peaceful  humil¬ 
ity),  but  in  lowliness  of  mind  each  counting  the  other 
better  than  himself  (modesty) ;  not  looking  each  of  you 
to  his  own  things,  but  each  of  you  to  the  things  of  others 
(altruism).  Have  this  mind  in  you,  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus,  who  existing  in  the  form  of  God,  counted 
not  the  being  on  an  equality  with  God  a  thing  to  be 
grasped,  but  emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a 
servant  (sacrifice).  *  *  *  Finally,  brethren,  whatso¬ 

ever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honourable, 
whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure, 
whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of 
good  report;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  if  there  be  any  praise, 
think  on  these  things.”  Phil.  2:1-7;  4:8. 

Peter  also  gives  an  analysis  and  statement  of  Christian 
character  in  his  letters  as  follows :  “  Finally,  be  ye  all 
like-minded,  compassionate,  loving  as  brethren,  tender¬ 
hearted,  humble-minded ;  not  rendering  evil  for  evil,  or 
reviling  for  reviling ;  but  contrariwise  blessing  *  *  *. 

Let  him  refrain  his  tongue  from  evil,  and  his  lips  that 
they  speak  no  guile:  And  let  him  turn  away  from  evil, 
and  do  good;  let  him  seek  peace,  and  pursue  it.”  I  Pet. 
3:8-11.  “Yea,  and  for  this  very  cause  adding  on  your 
part  all  diligence,  in  your  faith  supply  virtue;  and  in 
your  virtue  knowledge ;  and  in  your  knowledge  self- 
control;  and  in  your  self-control  patience;  and  in  your 
patience  godliness;  and  in  your  godliness  brotherly  kind¬ 
ness;  and  in  your  brotherly  kindness  love.”  2  Pet. 

1 :  5-7. 


112 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


As  to  the  content  or  constituent  traits  of  Christian 
character,  the  above  passages  are  clear  and  definite  ;  and 
all  these  traits  are  so  well  known  to-day  that  they  scarcely 
need  any  further  definition,  elaboration  or  comment. 
They  are  analytically  and  synthetically  stated  in  the 
Scriptures,  illustrated  in  the  lives  of  Christians,  and  in¬ 
carnated  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  ideal 
character  for  all  ages  and  races  of  men.  Any  one,  there¬ 
fore,  that  knows  Him  knows  Christian  character.  The  in¬ 
spired  teachers  and  writers  have  revealed  not  only  what 
Christian  character  is,  but  how  it  may  be  acquired.  Paul 
says,  “  Be  not  fashioned  according  to  this  world,  but  be 
ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye 
may  prove  what  is  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect 
will  of  God.”  And  again,  “  We  all  with  unveiled  face 
beholding  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  trans¬ 
formed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as 
from  the  Lord  the  Spirit.”  Furthermore  Peter  says,  “  In 
your  faith  supply  virtue.” 

The  words  “  transform  ”  and  “  supply,”  indicate  a  pro¬ 
cess  of  growth  and  development.  “  Transform  ”  is  a 
sculptor’s  term,  showing  that  we  are  “  as  clay  in  the  pot¬ 
ter’s  hands,”  moulded  into  the  likeness  of  the  ideal  char¬ 
acter,  Jesus  the  Christ,  as  we  behold  His  glory;  and 
“  supply  ”  is  a  theatrical  word,  expressing  the  part  that 
the  person  plays  in  character  building.  He  furnishes  or 
builds  into  his  character  the  Christian  traits,  and  each 
grows  out  of  the  other.  It  is  a  development  or  unfold¬ 
ing  from  within  outward  such  as  the  growth  of  a  tree. 
It  is  not  wholly  a  gift  but  a  growth  where  the  person  is 
the  cultivator  of  the  Christian  graces.  Wherefore  Peter 
says,  “  Grow  in  grace  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ;”  and  “  As  newborn  babes,  long  for  the  spir¬ 
itual  milk  of  the  word,  which  is  without  guile,  that  ye 


CHARACTER 


113 

may  grow  thereby  unto  salvation.”  It  is  a  natural  normal 
growth  of  the  soul  under  the  influence  and  teaching  of 
Christian  ideals. 

While  Christian  character  is  a  natural  progressive 
growth,  it  begins  in  regeneration,  which  differentiates  it 
from  mere  morality  and  ethical  culture.  It  is  the  living 
fruit  of  “  a  new  life and  no  artificial  character  and 
life,  however  beautiful,  is  Christian.  Like  all  living 
growth,  it  begins  in  birth.  “  Except  one  be  born  of  the 
water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God,”  said  Jesus  to  all  that  desire  to  become  Christian 
in  life  and  character.  Only  a  regenerate  life  and  charac¬ 
ter  can  stand  the  strain  and  stress  of  this  world,  and  lift 
the  degraded  outcasts  of  society  up  out  of  the  depths  of 
sin.  The  skeptical  Gibbon  paid  a  great  tribute  to  Chris¬ 
tian  character  in  the  following:  “The  friends  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  may  acknowledge  without  a  blush,  that  many  of 
the  most  eminent  saints  had  been  before  their  baptism 
the  most  abandoned  sinners.  *  *  *  Tertullian,  with 

an  honest  pride,  could  boast  that  very  few  Christians  had 
suffered  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner,  except  on  ac¬ 
count  of  their  religion.  *  *  *  It  is  a  very  honourable 
circumstance  for  the  morals  of  primitive  Christians,  that 
even  their  faults,  or  rather  errors,  were  derived  from  an 
excess  of  virtue.” 

During  the  days  of  persecution  of  the  early  church,  it 
was  Christian  character  that  enabled  Christians  to  stand 
for  the  church  in  the  midst  of  the  horrible  fiery  trials  of 
that  day.  “  Women  received  their  dead  by  a  resurrec¬ 
tion  :  and  others  were  tortured,  not  accepting  their  deliv¬ 
erance  ;  that  they  might  receive  a  better  resurrection ;  and 
others  had  trials  of  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  more¬ 
over  of  bonds  and  imprisonment :  they  were  stoned,  they 
wore  sawn  asunder,  they  were  tempted,  they  were  slain 


114 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


with  the  sword ;  they  went  about  in  sheepskins,  in  goat¬ 
skins;  being  destitute,  afflicted,  ill-treated  (of  whom  the 
world  was  not  worthy),  wandering  in  deserts  and  moun¬ 
tains  and  caves,  and  the  holes  of  the  earth.”  Only  the 
strongest  and  most  stalwart  character  could  have  passed 
through  such  trials  without  breaking  down,  which  is  suffi¬ 
cient  to  show  that  Christian  character  is  not  only  ethic¬ 
ally  ideal  but  truly  heroic.  This  virtuous  heroic  char¬ 
acter  was  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world,  so 
that  the  blood  of  martyrs  became  the  seed  of  the  king¬ 
dom.  No  one  could  behold  such  a  character  without  ad¬ 
miring  and  embracing  it ;  and  thus  the  people  were 
brought  to  the  Author  of  this  new  and  living  type  of 
character,  Jesus  the  Saviour.  True  Christian  character 
has  always  been  the  strongest  apologetic  for  Christianity ; 
and  in  no  way  can  one  be  more  effectively  for  Christ  and 
His  church  than  in  developing  and  manifesting  a  char¬ 
acter  that  is  truly  Christian. 

Consequently,  Christian  character  became  the  distin¬ 
guishing  trait  and  test  of  a  Christian,  and  was  the  bond 
of  unity  between  the  followers  of  Christ.  Subjectively 
Christian  unity  is  a  union  of  like  characters,  formed  and 
fashioned  after  Christ  as  the  ideal,  or  of  kindred  spirits 
that  are  born  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ;  and  there  is  no 
unity  so  close  and  binding  as  the  affinity  of  united  souls. 
The  problem  of  Christian  unity  is,  therefore,  a  matter  of 
planting  and  developing  Christian  character  in  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  the  members  of  the  church,  or  in  other  words 
of  getting  all  to  be  for  the  church  in  character.  When 
all  are  of  one  character,  they  are  naturally,  that  is,  psycho¬ 
logically  and  spiritually,  drawn  and  tied  to  each  other; 
and  this  inner  tie  of  souls  in  Christ  is  strong  and  lasting. 
This  is  the  first  bond  of  Christian  unity ;  and,  unless  peo¬ 
ple  are  thus  bound  together  by  things  within,  it  is  useless 


CHARACTER 


115 


to  try  to  bind  them  by  things  without.  So  Paul,  there¬ 
fore,  provided  first  for  this  inner  tie  of  character,  and 
required  all  to  be  for  the  church  in  this  essential  respect. 
All  must  not  only  theoretically  accept  and  approve  of  the 
Christian  graces,  but  must  actually  possess  and  cultivate 
the  same  in  their  hearts  and  lives ;  and,  when  this  is  done 
by  all,  all  will  come  into  unity  as  naturally  and  surely  as 
“  birds  of  a  feather  flock  together.” 


XI 


DOCTRINE 


THERE  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  also  ye  were 
called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling;  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over 
all,  and  through  all,  and  in  all.”  4:4-6. 

The  above  is  Paul’s  statement  of  the  essential  doc¬ 
trines,  which  constitute  the  second  essential  respect,  in 
which  all  must  be  for  the  church.  Paul  puts  character 
first,  and  emphasizes  it  accordingly ;  and  he  follows  his 
statement  of  the  essential  traits  of  Christian  character 
with  a  statement  of  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  church, 
for  which  all  must  stand.  He  places  doctrine  next  to  and 
alongside  of  character.  We  have  set  forth  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  chapter  Christian  character  as  the  first  essential  re¬ 
spect,  in  which  all  must  be  for  the  church ;  and  we  now 
come  to  the  study  of  the  second  essential,  Christian  doc¬ 
trine,  which  Paul  states  in  the  above. 

Character  and  doctrine  are  vitally  related  and  con¬ 
nected,  the  one  being  largely  determined  by  the  other. 
Doctrine,  taught  and  believed,  forms  character,  or,  in 
other  words,  what  one  believes  and  teaches  determines 
largely  what  he  is.  You  cannot  divorce  character  and 
doctrine,  because  they  are  psychologically  and  Scriptur- 
ally  united.  The  one  can  not  develop  without  the  other; 
and,  when  one  is  emphasized  to  the  neglect  of  the  other, 
each  is  weakened.  Paul  placed  them  together ;  and  they 
must  be  kept  together  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
members  of  the  church  as  co-ordinate  essentials  to  the 

progress  and  unity  of  the  church. 

116 


DOCTRINE 


117 


However,  there  is  a  prejudice  in  the  minds  of  many 
to-day  against  doctrine  as  an  essential  of  Christianity. 
This  is  doubtless  due  to  an  over-emphasis  of  doctrine  in 
the  past.  During  the  nineteenth  century  and  for  many 
preceding  centuries  doctrine  was  the  major  theme  in  the 
teaching  and  preaching  of  the  religious  leaders.  Ortho¬ 
doxy  in  doctrine  was  the  test  of  discipleship ;  and  con¬ 
formity  to  dogma  was  the  essential  requirement  of  church 
membership.  Many  were  persecuted,  and  a  few  mar¬ 
tyred,  because  of  their  refusal  to  subscribe  to  the  dogmas 
of  the  various  sects  in  the  church.  Character  was  not 
emphasized ;  and  the  moral  and  ethical  requirements  were 
lax.  But  to-day  the  pendulum  has  swung  to  the  opposite 
extreme  of  emphasizing  character  to  the  neglect  of  doc¬ 
trine.  The  tendency  is  to  preach  and  require  Christian 
character,  and  say  little  or  nothing  about  Christian  doc¬ 
trine.  “  It  matters  little  what  you  believe  and  teach,  but 
much  what  you  are  and  do,”  is  a  popular  tenet  to-day. 
The  greatest  laxity  and  the  broadest  liberty  are  granted 
with  reference  to  everything  doctrinal;  and  religious 
dogma  is  scoffed  by  many  that  profess  to  be  Christian 
preachers  and  teachers. 

While  orthodoxy  in  character  is  not  to  be  depreciated, 
yet  orthodoxy  in  doctrine  is  not  to  be  ignored,  according 
to  the  inspired  authorities  of  the  New  Testament,  who 
stress  the  importance  of  not  only  Christian  character  but 
Christian  doctrine  as  well  in  all  their  teaching  and  preach¬ 
ing.  The  following  passages  show  what  importance 
Christ  and  His  Apostles  attached  to  doctrine.  “Jesus 
therefore  answered  them  and  said,  My  teaching  is  not 
mine,  but  His  that  sent  me.”  “  Heaven  and  earth  shall 
pass  away ;  but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away.”  “  For 
whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  me  and  my  words  in  this 
sinful  and  adulterous  generation,  the  Son  of  man  also 


118 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


shall  be  ashamed  of  him,  when  he  cometh  in  the  glory 
of  his  Father  with  the  holy  angels.”  “  Whosoever  goeth 
onward  and  abideth  not  in  the  teaching  of  Christ,  hath 
not  God;  and  he  that  abideth  in  the  teaching,  the  same 
hath  the  Father  and  the  Son.”  2  Jno.  9-10.  “  If  any 

man  teacheth  a  different  doctrine,  and  consenteth  not  unto 
sound  words,  even  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  to  the  doctrine  which  is  according  to  godliness,  he 
is  puffed  up,  knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about  question¬ 
ings  and  disputes  of  words.”  I  Tim.  6:3-5.  “Every 
Scripture  inspired  of  God  is  also  profitable  for  teaching, 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  which  is  in 
righteousness :  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  complete, 
furnished  completely  unto  every  good  work.  ~  I  charge 
thee  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  of  Christ  Jesus,  who  will 
judge  the  living  and  the  dead,  and  by  his  appearing  and 
his  kingdom :  preach  the  word ;  be  urgent  in  season,  out 
of  season ;  reprove,  rebuke,  exhort,  with  all  long-suffer¬ 
ing  and  teaching.  For  the  time  will  come  when  they  will 
not  endure  the  sound  doctrine ;  but,  having  itching  ears, 
will  heap  to  themselves  teachers  after  their  own  lusts ; 
and  will  turn  away  their  ears  from  the  truth,  and  turn 
aside  unto  fables.”  II  Tim.  3:16  to  4:4.  These  state¬ 
ments  from  Christ,  John  and  Paul  show  clearly  what  im¬ 
portance  they  attached  to  the  true  sound  doctrine.  They 
did  not  insist  on  Christian  character  any  more  emphatic¬ 
ally  than  they  did  upon  Christian  doctrine.  They  treated 
both  as  co-ordinate  essentials,  and  required  all  others  to 
do  the  same. 

In  fact,  Christ  established  his  religion  through  teach¬ 
ing.  “  He  went  about  in  all  Galilee,  teaching  in  their 
synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom.” 
He  was  first  of  all  a  teacher;  and  his  doctrine  was  as 
vital  and  essential  to  his  religion  as  seed  is  to  vegetation. 


DOCTRINE 


119 


In  the  parable  of  the  Sower  the  Son  of  Man  is  the  sower, 
and  his  words  are  the  seeds  of  the  kingdom ;  and  in  the 
parable  of  the  Tares  he  declares  all  other  seed  to  be  tares. 
All  seed  produces  true  to  its  kind,  consequently  the  need 
of  great  care  as  to  the  kind  of  seed  we  sow.  This  is  as 
true  in  the  spiritual  realm  as  it  is  in  the  physical.  For  this 
reason  Christ  and  Paul  left  the  above  emphatic  words 
on  the  true  sound  doctrine,  which  all  are  required  to 
teach.  You  cannot  have  a  lasting  living  religion  without 
a  vitalizing  doctrine  from  which  it  springs  and  grows. 
To  this  end  Christ  came  to  earth  to  reveal  and  teach  this 
essential  doctrine ;  and  after  his  departure  he  sent  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  “  teach  the  Apostles  and  bring  to  their  re¬ 
membrance  all  things  that  he  had  taught  them.”  Accord¬ 
ingly,  they  were  sent  out  under  the  commission  of  teach¬ 
ers  and  preachers,  Matt.  28: 18-20;  Mark  16:  15-16;  and 
their  teaching  is  bound  upon  all  those  that  are  subjects 
of  the  Gospel,  or  Christian  salvation.  Matt.  16:  19. 
Anyone,  therefore,  that  rejects  or  esteems  lightly  this  doc¬ 
trine  as  revealed  through  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the 
Apostles  is  a  false  teacher  and  preacher  of  Christianity, 
and  denies  the  essential  faith  of  the  same.  This  doctrine 
is  the  only  true  and  effective  propaganda  for  Christianity. 
No  new  interpretations  or  restatements  of  it  will  do.  It 
needs  only  to  be  taught  “  as  it  is  written  ”  to  win  disci¬ 
ples;  and  any  Christian  teacher  or  preacher  that  is  silent 
or  “  puts  on  the  soft  pedal  ”  in  his  preaching  on  this  doc¬ 
trine  is  false  to  the  commission  under  which  he  preaches. 
On  the  other  hand,  this  does  not  mean  that  one  must  be 
offensively  dogmatic.  Blatant  dogmatism  is  as  false  to 
this  doctrine  as  purposed  silence.  When  one  teaches 
plainly  and  kindly  just  what  Christ  and  the  Apostles 
taught,  he  is  only  dogmatic  as  they  were  dogmatic.  He 


120 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


is  truly  dogmatic,  when  he  is  silent  on  this  teaching,  and 
endeavours  to  teach  his  own  views  and  theories. 

All  the  divinely  inspired  teachers  and  preachers  spoke 
and  wrote  clearly  and  definitely  on  the  fundamental  doc¬ 
trines  of  the  church.  Paul,  “  the  master-builder  ”  of  the 
church  and  the  chief  theologian  among  the  Apostles  was 
the  expositor  of  these  doctrines,  which  he  summarizes 
in  the  text  of  this  chapter.  The  seven  “  one  ”  things,  as 
stated  by  him,  constitute  the  essential  deposit  of  Chris¬ 
tian  doctrine,  for  which  all  in  the  church  must  stand. 
Many  in  the  church  to-day  do  not  even  know  what  these 
doctrines  are,  much  less  stand  for  them.  In  recent  years 
there  has  been  so  little  emphasis  of  these  doctrines  that 
many  of  the  members  of  the  church  have  no  religious 
convictions.  They  are  religiously  spineless.  They  are 
religious  “  children,  tossed  to  and  fro  and  carried 
about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine/’  whom  Paul  exhorts 
to  become  “  full-grown  men  ”  truly  and  soundly  indoc¬ 
trinated  with  Christian  teaching ;  they  are  like  the 
Athenians,  whom  Paul  found  to  be  mere  philosophic  epi¬ 
cureans,  tasting  of  every  “  new  thing  ”  in  religion  and 
accepting  none.  They  have  not  been  taught  the  funda¬ 
mental  doctrines  of  the  church  or  any  other  religious 
teaching  except  a  little  philosophic  liberalism  that  is  close 
to  skepticism.  As  a  result  the  church  to-day  is  filled  with 
people  that  have  no  religious  convictions.  Religiously 
they  do  not  stand  for  anything.  They  need  to  be  taught 
and  indoctrinated  with  Christian  truth  that  they  may 
know  and  stand  for  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  church, 
the  first  of  which,  according  to  Paul,  is 

One  Body 

“There  is  one  body,”  which,  he  says,  is  the  church, 
2 : 22-23.  The  church  itself  as  the  one  body  of  Christ 


DOCTRINE 


121 


is  an  essential  doctrine  of  the  church.  Paul  mentions  this 
first,  not  because  it  is  the  most  important,  but  because  the 
church  is  the  major  theme  of  his  letter,  and  logically 
comes  first  in  his  statement  of  the  essential  doctrines  of 
the  church.  Paul  states  this  doctrine  in  regard  to  the 
church  in  more  detail  in  his  letters  to  the  Romans  and 
the  Corinthians.  Rom.  12:4-5;  I  Cor.  12:12-26.  The 
church  is  fundamental  and  essential  to  Christianity  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Scriptures ;  and  the  whole  history  of  the 
church  attests  the  same.  Christianity  never  would  have 
gotten  beyond  Jerusalem  without  the  organized  church. 
It  would  have  died  still-born.  In  fact,  no  religion  can 
exist  without  some  organized  active  body  or  institution  to 
represent  and  propagate  it.  This  has  been  the  essential 
function  of  the  church,  which  is  vital  to  Christ’s  religion. 
To  this  end  Christ  said,  “  I  will  build  my  church.”  Any¬ 
one,  therefore,  that  regards  the  church  lightly,  or  looks 
upon  it  as  non-essential  to  Christianity,  either  does  not 
understand  the  church,  or  is  an  enemy  of  the  same.  God 
planned  the  church  “  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,” 
which  makes  everything  in  the  world  secondary  and  con¬ 
tributory  to  the  church ;  and  “  Christ  loved  the  church, 
and  gave  himself  for  it.”  This  is  heaven’s  estimate  of 
the  church ;  and  man,  for  whom  it  was  planned  and  built, 
ought  to  esteem  it  even  more  highly.  Whenever  anyone 
fails  to  stand  for  the  church,  or  is  indifferent  toward  it, 
it  is  a  sure  evidence  of  his  enmity  to  or  disbelief  in  the 
same.  “  He  that  is  not  for  me  is  against  me,”  is  true  of 
the  church. 

While  Christ’s  kingdom  is  a  spiritual  kingdom,  it  is 
not  an  invisible  kingdom,  as  some  seem  to  think.  The 
church  is  the  visible  organized  form  of  the  kingdom,  es¬ 
tablished  for  Christian  work  and  worship ;  and  Paul  says, 
“  There  is  one  body,”  which  excludes  all  other  bodies  that 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


122 

profess  to  do  the  work  and  worship  of  the  church.  In 
the  realm  of  religion  the  church  has  jio  rival  institutions, 
or  should  have  none  according  to  Paul.  Any  other  body 
or  institution  that  aspires  to  do  the  work  and  worship  of 
the  church  is,  therefore,  a  usurper  knd  an  enemy  to  the 
church.  “  This  is  religious  bigotry/’  say  some.  No.  It 
is  mere  consistency.  Christianity  could  not  be  what  it 
professes  to  be,  and  recognize  the  legitimacy  of  other 
religious  bodies.  Christianity  claims  to  be  the  only  true 
religion ;  and,  if  it  is,  there  must  be  one  authorized  body 
to  represent  it.  Rut  many  other  bodies  claim  to  be  Chris¬ 
tian.  Yes;  but  they  are  not  divinely  authorized  as  the 
church.  “  There  is  one  (divinely  authorized)  body,” 
which  is  the  church.  The  church  is  the  only  institution 
planned  by  God  and  built  by  His  Son;  and  no  other  in¬ 
stitution  has  the  authority  and  right  to  represent  Them. 
Every  member  of  the  church,  therefore,  must  stand  for 
this  “  one  body,”  which  is  the  church,  and  be  content  to 
work  and  worship  in  it,  and  endeavour  to  get  all  others 
to  do  the  same. 

But  where  can  this  “  one  body,”  of  which  Paul  speaks, 
be  found  to-day  ?  The  church  has  suffered  so  many  divi¬ 
sions  from  within,  it  is  difficult  to  find  one’s  way  back 
to  this  original  body  of  Christ  or  to  trace  it  down  to  the 
present.  On  account  of  the  great  multiplicity  of  religious 
bodies  to-day,  and  all  claiming  to  be  Christian,  this  “  one 
body  ”  has  been  lost  sight  of ;  and  Paul’s  doctrine  of 
“  one  body  ”  has  been  discredited ;  yet  this  does  not  dis¬ 
prove  the  doctrine  nor  justify  one  in  rejecting  the  same. 
The  very  fact  that  the  church  has  been  divided  is  proof 
of  its  original  unity ;  and  the  incompleteness  of  the 
divided  parts  of  the  church  is  proof  of  the  need  of  the 
unity  to-day.  While  the  church  is  divided,  nevertheless 
Paul’s  doctrine  on  the  unity  of  the  same  is  still  true. 


DOCTRINE 


123 


and  should  be  accepted  by  all.  Whenever  we  reject  this 
doctrine,  or  fail  to  stand  for  it,  and  admit  the  legitimacy 
of  a  multiplicity  of  bodies,  such  as  we  have  to-day,  we 
become  apologists  for  division  and  denominationalism, 
which  Paul  severely  condemned,  and  which  is  the  curse 
of  the  church  to-day.  One  cannot  stand  for  both  de¬ 
nominationalism  and  Paul’s  doctrine,  “  There  is  one 
body,”  because  they  are  contradictory.  To  say  that  the 
various  denominations  are  “  the  members  ”  of  the  “  one 
body  ”  of  Christ  is  Scripturally  untenable,  because  Christ 
and  Paul  made  it  clear  that  the  individual  disciples  are 
“the  members”  of  his  body.  John  15:1-6;  I  Cor. 
12:12-26.  In  fact,  there  is  no  suggestion  of  denomina¬ 
tionalism  in  the  New  Testament;  and  every  form  of 
division  is  condemned.  I  Cor.  1:10-13;  Gal.  6:19-20. 
“  The  church,  which  is  the  body  of  Christ,”  does  not 
admit  of  legitimate  division  any  more  than  the  human 
body ;  and  division  results  in  weakness  and  death  in  each 
alike.  The  only  remedy  for  this  weakness  and  threat¬ 
ened  death  of  the  church  from  division  is  a  restoration 
of  the  original  unity  of  the  body  of  Christ. 

This  doctrine  of  the  “  one  body  ”  of  Christ  has  a  vital 
bearing  on  the  problem  of  unity  in  the  church  to-day. 
Unless  the  members  of  the  church  accept  this  doctrine, 
and  endeavour  to  bring  the  church  to  conform  to  the 
same,  there  is  no  hope  for  Christian  unity ;  while  on  the 
other  hand,  if  they  do  accept  it,  and  endeavour  to  realize 
it,  Christian  unity  is  highly  probable.  The  people  need 
to  be  pointed  away  from  the  denominations  that  clamour 
for  prestige  and  dominion  on  all  sides  back  to  the  original 
“  one  body  ”  of  Christ  and  to  be  enlisted  in  an  effort  to 
return  to  the  same;  and  Christian  unity  will  be  greatly 
advanced  thereby. 


124 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


One  Spirit 

“  There  is  one  Spirit,” — the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  There 
is  no  doctrine  more  vital  and  fundamental  in  Christian 
teaching  than  that  regarding  the  Holy  Spirit.  To  deny 
or  even  question  His  power  and  authority  is  the  unpar¬ 
donable  sin  according  to  Christ;  and  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  manifest  in  the  world  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end.  The  Bible  begins  with  an  ac¬ 
count  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  creation,  and 
closes  with  the  Spirit’s  invitation  to  all  to  come  and  par¬ 
take  of  the  eternal  things  of  God.  Rev.  22:  17.  The 
Bible  is  a  historical  record  of  the  doings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  life  of  man.  Men  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit 
have  spoken  and  wrought  for  God  in  the  upbuilding  of 
the  world.  Christ  received  the  Holy  Spirit  at  his  bap¬ 
tism,  and  through  the  same  did  the  mighty  works  of  God. 
The  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures  are  “  spirit-filled  ” 
and  “  spirit-breathed,”  and  are  in  substance  the  teaching 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  “  God  revealed  them  through  the 
Spirit,”  says  Paul.  In  fact,  Christianity  is  differentiated 
from  all  other  religions  by  the  presence  and  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  so  the  doctrine  of  the  one  Spirit  is,  there¬ 
fore,  vital  and  essential. 

There  have  been  wide  differences  in  doctrine  on  the 
Holy  Spirit.  We  touch  here  the  borderland  of  the  un¬ 
known  and  mysterious ;  and  the  tendency  is  to  theorize 
and  speculate,  which  leads  to  irreconcilable  differences. 
Accordingly,  there  have  been  much  speculating  and  wide 
differing  as  to  the  personality,  work,  indwelling,  opera¬ 
tion,  etc.,  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  While  the  Bible  contains 
much  teaching  regarding  these  functions  of  the  Spirit, 
some  of  which,  like  the  teaching  of  Paul  according  to 
Peter,  is  hard  to  comprehend ;  yet  Paul’s  statement, 
“  There  is  one  Spirit,”  is  clear  and  comprehensive,  and 


DOCTRINE 


125 


is  sufficient  for  agreement  and  unity  at  this  point.  This 
is  Paul’s  summary  of  Christian  doctrine  with  reference 
to  the  Spirit;  and  for  all  that  accept  the  Holy  Spirit  as 
the  one  Spirit  of  God  there  is  common  ground  and  hope 
of  unity. 

Paul  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  there  is  only  one 
Spirit,  because  the  world  is  full  of  spirits  both  good  and 
evil,  but  that  relatively  and  comparatively  there  is  one 
Spirit.  There  is  no  spirit  that  can  be  classed  and  com¬ 
pared  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  all  respects  and  relation¬ 
ships  the  Spirit  of  God  is  supreme,  or  “  one.” 

For  instance,  “  There  is  one  Spirit  ”  of  power.  Spirit 
is  more  powerful  than  physical  force  or  anything  else  in 
the  world.  It  dominates  matter,  and  rules  the  world.  For 
this  reason  man  was  given  dominion  over  the  world  and 
everything  in  it.  This  power  often  makes  man  proud, 
boastful  and  domineering,  as  it  did  Pilate ;  and  he  needs 
to  be  told,  “  Thou  wouldst  have  no  power,  except  it  were 
given  thee  from  above.”  All  power  is  originally  from  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  is  omnipotent,  so  any  power  that  man 
may  possess  is  merely  a  delegated  power.  The  Spirit  of 
God  is  the  one  Spirit  of  power.  Accordingly,  those  to 
whom  the  Holy  Spirit  was  especially  given  were  endowed 
with  great  power  that  manifested  itself  in  “  signs  and 
wonders  and  by  manifold  powers  and  by  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.”  There  is  no  other  spirit  that  can  give 
power,  and  is  the  source  of  power.  There  is  one  Spirit 
of  power, — the  Spirit  of  God. 

Again,  “  There  is  one  Spirit  ”  of  truth.  Jesus  empha¬ 
sized  this  in  His  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  “And  I  will 
pray  the  Father,  and  He  will  give  you  another  Comforter, 
that  he  may  be  with  you  forever,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth, 
whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  for  it  beholdeth  him  not, 
neither  knoweth :  ye  know  him ;  for  he  abideth  with  you, 


126 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


and  shall  be  in  you.  *  *  *  But  the  Comforter,  even 
the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name, 
he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  to  your  remem¬ 
brance  all  things  that  I  said  unto  you.”  “  However, 
when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall  guide  you 
into  all  the  truth ;  *  *  *  and  he  shall  declare  unto 

you  the  things  that  are  to  come.”  In  these  days  of  many 
spirits  that  pose  as  revealers  of  truth  there  is  a  need  of 
heeding  John’s  admonition,  “  Beloved,  believe  not  every 
spirit,  but  prove  the  spirits,  whether  they  are  of  God ;  be¬ 
cause  many  false  prophets  are  gone  out  into  the  world. 
Hereby  know  ye  the  Spirit  of  God :  every  spirit  that  con- 
fesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God: 
and  every  spirit  that  confesseth  not  Jesus  in  the  flesh  is 
not  of  God ;  and  this  is  the  spirit  of  the  Antichrist, 
whereof  ye  have  heard  that  it  cometh ;  and  now  it  is  in 
the  world  already.”  The  standards  of  truth  to-day  have 
become  so  lax  and  liberal  that  almost  anything  with  a 
show  or  semblance  of  truth  passes  as  true  irregardless  of 
the  spirit  from  whom  it  comes.  Furthermore,  many,  like 
Pilate,  with  no  standard  of  truth,  flippantly  and  cynically 
ask,  “  What  is  truth  ?  ”  without  stopping  to  consider  the 
question  honestly  and  seriously.  The  only  true  and  reli¬ 
able  answer  to  this  question  that  has  ever  been  given  is 
Christ’s  answer,  “Thy  (God’s)  word  is  truth;”  and  the 
only  authorized  revealer  and  teacher  of  God’s  v/ord  is 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  was  sent  to  teach  and  guide  the 
Apostles  into  all  truth.  Therefore  Paul  says,  “  There  is 
one  Spirit  ”  of  truth,  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

Also,  “  There  is  one  Spirit  ”  of  holiness.  The  Spirit 
of  God  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit,  because  absolutely  there 
is  but  one  Spirit  of  holiness.  Other  spirits  are  relatively 
holy  in  a  more  or  less  degree;  but  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
absolutely  holy.  “  None  is  good,  save  one,  even  God,” 


DOCTRINE 


127 


said  Jesus.  Perfect  goodness  or  holiness  belongs  to  God 
alone;  and  in  this  respect  there  is  one  Spirit  of  holiness. 
“  There  is  one  Spirit  ”  of  power,  of  truth,  of  holiness, 
etc.,  which,  according  to  Paul,  is  an  essential  tenet  of 
Christian  doctrine,  for  which  all  must  stand.  The  next  is 

One  Hope 

“  Even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling.” 
There  is  one  hope,  which  Paul  says  is  “  the  hope 
of  eternal  life.”  The  resurrection  through  Christ  and 
eternal  life  with  the  Father  is  the  star  of  hope  that  shone 
“dimly  in  the  ages  before  Christ ;  but,  after  Christ  came 
and  “  brought  life  and  immortality  to  life  through  the 
gospel,”  it  became  “  the  bright  morning  star  ”  leading  the 
children  of  God  out  of  the  darkness  of  doubt  and  death 
into  the  day  of  eternal  life.  Without  this  hope,  Paul 
says,  Christianity  is  “  false  ”  and  “  vain,”  and  “  we  are 
of  all  men  most  pitiable.”  There  is  no  tenet  more  vital 
and  essential  to  Christianity  than  this  hope  of  the  resur¬ 
rection  through  Christ  and  eternal  life  with  the  Father. 
This  is  “  the  hope  of  salvation,”  which  gleams  on  the 
countenance  of  Christians  like  a  shining  “  helmet,”  and 
is  “  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  a  hope  both  sure  and  stead¬ 
fast  and  entering  into  that  which  is  within  the  veil.” 
Every  other  hope  of  man  ends  this  side  of  the  veil  of  the 
great  beyond ;  but  the  Christian’s  hope  lights  the  way 
“  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,”  and  leads 
out  into  the  golden  glories  of  the  eternal  home  of  the 
soul.  This  is  the  “  one  hope  ”  of  the  Christian’s  calling, 
for  which  Paul  prays,  “  that  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Father  of  glory,  may  give  unto  you  a  spirit 
of  wisdom  and  revelation,  *  *  *  that  ye  may  know 

what  is  the  hope  of  his  calling,  what  the  riches  of  the 
glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints.”  These  riches  are 


128 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


“  unsearchable  and  past  finding  out ;”  but  we  can  look 
forward  to  the  same  in  confident  hope ;  and  “  if  we  hope 
for  that  which  we  see  not,  then  do  we  with  patience  wait 
for  it.” 

But  Christians  need  not  only  to  know  and  look  forward 
to  this  hope ;  but  they  need  to  stand  for  it.  In  this  age 
of  doubt  concerning  the  life  to  come,  this  hope  needs  to 
be  taught  and  defended,  “  being  ready  always  to  give  an 
answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  for  the 
hope  that  is  in  you.”  This  hope  is  the  touchstone  of 
infidelity  and  the  divine  seal  of  the  children  of  God. 
There  is  no  place  in  the  church  of  Christ  for  the  doubt¬ 
ing  and  unbelieving.  All  in  the  church  to-day  like  the 
martyrs  of  old  must  stand  loyally  by  this  hope  and  for 
the  doctrine  of  the  same.  The  next  essential  doctrine  is, 

One  Lord 

“  There  is  one  Lord,”  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
is  “  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings.”  The  lordship  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  all  the  relationships  of  life  is  a  fundamen¬ 
tal  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament;  in  fact,  it  is  the  dis¬ 
tinctive  teaching  of  Christianity.  The  lordship  of  Jesus 
was  the  principle  item  in  the  gospel,  proclaimed  by  the 
angels,  Luke  2:  11,  and  formed  the  major  theme  of  the 
sermons  preached  by  the  Apostles.  See  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  It  is  of  the  very  essence  of  Christianity,  and 
is  distinctive  of  Christ’s  religion. 

In  all  the  realms  of  being  Christ  is  supreme  Lord. 
He  is  supreme  in  the  realm  of  intellect.  No  man  ever 
thought  and  spake  as  He.  He  is  supreme  in  the  realm 
of  character.  “  He  is  the  fairest  of  ten  thousand,  and 
one  altogether  lovely.”  “  There  is  no  beauty  that  you 
could  desire  him.”  “  He  was  tempted  in  all  things  as 
we,  yet  without  sin.”  Sinless  perfection  was  an  attribute 


DOCTRINE 


129! 


of  Him  alone.  He  is  also  supreme  in  rule,  dominion* 
power  and  authority.  “  All  authority  in  heaven  and  earth 
is  given  unto  me,”  said  Christ;  and  Paul  wrote  in  the 
letter  that  we  are  studying,  “  God  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  and  made  him  to  sit  at  his  right  hand  in  heavenly 
places,  far  above  all  rule,  and  authority,  and  power,  and 
dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this 
world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come.”  “  And  he  is 
the  head  of  the  body,  the  church :  who  is  the  beginning, 
the  firstborn  from  the  dead;  that  in  all  things  he  might 
have  the  pre-eminence.”  The  supremacy  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  realm  of  religion  was  the  major  theme  of  all  Paul’s 
teaching  and  preaching. 

There  is  no  essential  doctrine  of  the  church  that  needs 
to  be  emphasized  more  to-day  than  the  Lordship  of  Christ. 
He  needs  to  be  made  the  “  one  Lord  ”  of  life  in  reality 
and  not  in  mere  theory.  The  trouble  with  the  religious 
world  to-day  is,  it  has  many  lords  instead  of  one.  Theo¬ 
retically  Jesus  is  Lord;  but  in  reality  some  earthly  eccle¬ 
siastic  such  as  the  Pope,  Bishop,  Pastor,  Prophet,  Priest, 
Editor,  etc.,  is  lord  of  the  church.  Whenever  the  word 
and  rule  of  man  or  any  body  of  men  is  exalted  above  or 
substituted  for  the  word  and  will  of  Christ,  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  supreme  Lordship  of  Christ  is  rejected.  The 
claim  of  the  Pope  to  be  the  earthly  representative  of 
Christ  and  the  claim  of  Apostolic  Succession  by  the  Col¬ 
lege  of  Bishops  have  no  Scriptural  justification,  but  are 
in  fact  a  virtual  denial  of  the  Lordship  of  Christ.  “  There 
is  one  Lord,”  says  Christ,  “  not  only  in  this  world,  but 
also  in  the  world  to  come.”  It  seems  that  some  in  Apos¬ 
tolic  times  were  inclined  to  deny  the  Lordship  of  Christ 
“  in  the  world  to  come;”  whereas  some  to-day  reject  His 
Lordship  “  in  this  world ;”  but  according  to  Paul,  “  There 


130 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


is  one  Lord  ”  both  “  in  this  world  and  the  world  to 
come.”  Next  there  is 

One  Faith 

The  doctrine  of  faith  occupied  a  large  place  in  the 
teaching  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles.  Such  passages  as 
the  following  show  what  importance  they  attached  to 
faith :  “  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.” 
“  Daughter,  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole.”  “  Accord¬ 
ing  to  thy  faith  be  it  unto  thee.’*  “  Thy  faith  hath  saved 
thee.”  “  To  him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness  that 
through  his  name  every  one  that  believeth  on  him  shall 
receive  remission  of  sins.”  “  Being  justified  by  faith,  we 
have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.” 
“  For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith.”  _ 

In  his  letters  to  the  Romans  and  Galatians  Paul  sets 
forth  in  detail  the  doctrine  of  faith  in  the  Christian  sys¬ 
tem  of  salvation ;  but  in  these  letters  he  deals  with  faith 
in  the  abstract,  or  subjective  faith;  while  in  his  state¬ 
ment  above,  “  There  is  one  faith,”  he  speaks  of  objective 
faith,  which  has  to  do  with  the  things  to  be  believed,  the 
creed.  Excepting  degree  faith  on  its  subjective  side  is 
the  same  in  all;  but  on  its  objective  side  it  varies  with 
the  things  believed.  With  respect  to  the  things  to  be 
believed  Paul  says,  “  There  is  one  faith,”  one  creed ;  and 
Jude  adds  that  this  creed  was  “  once  for  all  delivered 
unto  the  saints.”  This  makes  it  fixed  and  unchangeable. 
The  saints  did  not  conceive  or  state  it,— -it  was  deliv¬ 
ered  to  them ;  and  the  words,  “  once  for  all,”  forbid  any 
restatement  of  it.  The  only  faith,  or  creed,  that  fulfills 
these  requirements  is  the  statement  of  faith,  or  confes¬ 
sion,  of  Peter,  “  Thou  art  the  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living 
God.”  Of  this  creed  Christ  said  to  Peter,  “  Flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who 


DOCTRINE 


131 


is  in  heaven.”  God  first  revealed  this  creed  at  Christ’s 
baptism,  saying,  “  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased,”  and  again  on  the  Mount  of  Transfigura¬ 
tion.  As  people  became  convinced  of  his  divine  Sonship, 
they  confessed  this  creed;  and  we  find  it  recorded  many 
times  in  the  New  Testament.  See  Mat.  26:63-64;  Jno. 
2:27;  20:31;  Acts  8:37;  10:43;  J6 :  2 1,  etc. 

This  divine  creed  is  faith  in  a  person,  Jesus  Christ, 
and  consists  of  only  one  article  of  faith.  While  it  is  very 
brief  and  simple,  yet  it  is  broad  and  comprehensive  in 
scope  and  profound  in  subject-matter.  It  is  a  con¬ 
densed  statement  of  Christian  faith,  and  includes  every¬ 
thing  to  be  believed  by  a  Christian.  It  implies  faith  in 
the  living  God  of  the  Bible,  and  states  a  definite  and 
specific  faith  in  Jesus,  who  is  the  chief  object  of  Chris¬ 
tian  faith.  It  requires  faith  in  him  as  the  Christ  (not  a 
Christ)  and  as  the  Son  of  God  (not  a  Son  of  God). 
“  The  Christ  ”  is,  of  course,  the  Christ  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Scriptures,  and  “  the  Son  of  God  ”  is  the  Son  of 
God  of  the  same.  This  Christ  and  this  Son  of  God  is 
'dearly  and  definitely  revealed  in  the  Scriptures ;  and  any 
one  that  rejects  this  account  of  Him  rejects  and  denies 
“  the  one  faith  ”  of  Christianity,  which  Paul  prescribed 
as  an  essential  doctrine  of  the  church.  He  is  revealed 
as  begotten  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  born  of  the  virgin 
Mary,  the  divinely  sent  and  inspired  prophet  like  unto 
Moses,  “  the  lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world,”  crucified,  buried,  resurrected  on  the  third 
day  and  ascended  into  heaven  as  the  Advocate  of  man. 
While  all  this  and  more  is  stated  and  implied  in  the  one 
article  of  faith,  it  needs  no  elaborated  statement  or  inter¬ 
pretation  by  man  or  any  assembly  of  men.  This  has  given 
rise  to  the  many  creeds  of  Christendom,  which  have  been 
divisive  of  the  church.  The  only  creed  or  statement  of 


132 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


faith  that  all  Christians  accept  is  the  “  one  faith  ”  of  the 
Scriptures,  namely,  “  Thou  art  the  Christ  the  Son  of  the 
living  God.”  Any  one  that  believes  less  than  this  is  an 
infidel ;  and  any  one  that  believes  more  goes  “  beyond 
that  which  is  written  ”  and  “  delivered  unto  the  saints.” 
This  is  the  “  one  faith,”  which  Paul  prescribed  for  all. 
Next  there  is 

One  Baptism 

For  some  reason  there  is  a  strong  prejudice  against 
baptism  as  an  essential  doctrine  of  the  church,  notwith¬ 
standing  Pauls  putting  it  in  his  statement  of  the  seven 
“  one  ”  things,  or  essential  doctrines.  It  is  popularly 
classed  to-day  as  a  non-essential;  and  there  is  little  said 
of  it  except  in  depreciation  of  its  value  and  importance; 
but  it  was  not  so  considered  and  treated  by  the  authori¬ 
ties  of  the  New  Testament,  as  is  evident  from  the  fol¬ 
lowing  statements :  “For  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill 
all  righteousness.”  “  Whosoever  believeth  and  is  bap¬ 
tized  shall  be  saved.”  “  Except  one  be  born  of  the  water 
and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God.” 
Jesus.  “  Repent  ye  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  remission  of  your  sins; 
and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.”  “  In 
the  days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  a  preparing,  wherein 
few,  that  is,  eight  souls,  were  saved  through  water ;  which 
also  after  a  true  likeness  doth  now  save  you,  even  bap¬ 
tism.”  Peter.  “  For  as  many  of  you  as  were  baptized 
into  Christ  did  put  on  Christ.”  “  For  in  one  Spirit  were 
we  all  baptized  into  one  body.”  Paul.  Baptism  was  a 
vital  doctrine  in  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles ; 
and  there  is  no  subject  more  frequently  mentioned  by 
the  New  Testament  writers.  Paul  classes  baptism  as 
“  one  ”  of  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  church,  saying, 


DOCTRINE 


133 


“  There  is  one  baptism,”  so  let  us,  therefore,  so  treat  it, 
and  find  out  what  this  “  one  baptism  ”  is. 

There  are  only  two  religious  baptisms  spoken  of  in  the 
New  Testament,  one  a  baptism  in  water  and  the  other  a 
baptism  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  Mark  i :  8,  so  a  choice  must 
be  made  between  these  two  baptisms  as  the  “  one  bap¬ 
tism  ”  to  be  taught  and  practised  to-day.  If  one  is 
chosen,  the  other  must  be  discontinued  in  practice  and 
teaching.  Accordingly,  the  Quakers  say  that  the  “  one 
baptism”  is  Holy  Spirit  baptism,  and  they  do  not  teach  and 
practice  water  baptism ;  but  all  other  churches,  so  far  as  I 
know,  teach  and  practice  water  baptism,  which  commits 
them  to  the  view  that  the  “  one  baptism  ”  is  water  bap¬ 
tism,  which,  I  think,  is  the  baptism  that  Paul  meant,  for 
the  following  reasons :  First,  Holy  Spirit  baptism  was 
for  a  specific  time  and  purpose.  There  were  but  two 
instances  of  it  in  the  Apostolic  church, — on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  and  at  the  house  of  Cornelius.  On  the  day  of 
Pentecost  the  disciples  were  baptized  in  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  fulfillment  of  Christ’s  promise  to  send  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  teach  and  guide  them  into  all  truth ;  and  at  the  house 
of  Cornelius  the  Gentiles  were  likewise  baptized  as  the 
divine  seal  of  their  acceptance  to  God.  One  baptism  was 
sufficient  in  each  case  for  all  time  and  races,  so  it  passed, 
and  thereafter  there  was,  as  Paul  states,  “  one  baptism,” 
— water  baptism,  which  the  Apostles  continued  to  prac¬ 
tice  under  Christ’s  great  commission,  “  Go  ye  therefore, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into 
the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.”  See  Acts  n  to  28.  Second,  water  baptism  is 
the  only  way  of  carrying  out  the  great  commission,  which 
was  “  unto  the  end  of  the  world,”  because  it  is  the  only 
baptism  that  can  be  practised  and  obeyed.  No  man  can 
baptize  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  have  himself  baptized  in 


134 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


the  same.  This  was  administered  from  above ;  and  those 
thus  baptized  were  entirely  passive.  The  Gentiles,  who 
were  baptized  in  the  Holy  Spirit  at  the  house  of  Corne¬ 
lius,  were  also  baptized  in  water,  Acts  10:47;  and  ah 
alike  were  required  to  be  baptized  in  water,  which  is 
Christian  baptism,  or  the  “  one  baptism,”  which  was  pre¬ 
scribed  for  teaching  and  practice  in  the  church  for  all 
ages  and  races. 

There  is  nothing,  however,  in  the  word  “  one  ”  in 
favour  or  against  any  form  of  water  baptism,  either  sprink¬ 
ling,  pouring  or  immersion.  This  is  determined  by  the 
Scriptural  meaning  of  the  word  “  baptism  ”  itself,  which 
was  not  an  issue  in  Paul’s  day;  nor  can  it  be  among 
those  that  understand  the  Greek  language,  of  which  it  is 
an  untranslated  word.  All  that  know  Greek  know  that 
the  only  form  of  baptism  that  the  original  meaning  of  the 
word  admits  is  immersion;  and,  furthermore,  all  that 
know  the  references  to  baptism  in  the  New  Testament 
know  that  immersion  is  the  only  form  that  meets  the 
conditions  of  the  same.  As  to  the  original  meaning  of 
the  word  and  Apostolic  practice  in  conformity  to  the 
same  there  is  no  reasonable  doubt ;  but  the  ecclesiastical 
claim  of  authority  to  change  the  form  raises  a  question 
that  does  not  admit  of  settlement  by  the  Scriptures  that 
contain  the  mind  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  who  are  the 
only  authorities  recognized  in  this  treatise  that  seek  the 
unity  of  those  that  accept  these  standards  of  authority. 
However,  among  all  those  that  do  accept  these  authori¬ 
ties  there  is  a  reasonable  hope  of  unity  on  the  baptism 
question  as  well  as  on  all  others  that  have  disturbed  and 
divided  the  church. 

However,  there  is  an  effort  on  the  part  of  many  to-day 
to  discard  baptism  as  an  essential  to  Christian  unity  and 
to  unite  irregardless  of  differences  on  this  question.  They 


DOCTRINE 


135 


speak  of  the  “  immersion  dogma  ”  as  an  “  unjustifiable 
barrier  to  unity,”  and  call  on  all  to  give  up  their  opinions 
on  baptism  for  the  sake  of  unity.  But  what  makes  bap¬ 
tism  any  more  a  dogma  than  faith  or  any  other  of  the 
“  one  ”  things  prescribed  by  Paul  as  essential  doctrines 
of  the  church?  The  same  authority  prescribed  both,  so 
they  all,  therefore,  either  stand  or  fall  together.  And 
what  makes  baptism  by  immersion  a  personal  opinion, 
when  both  Christ  and  his  Apostles  so  taught  and  prac¬ 
tised  it?  Any  unity  that  ignores  baptism  is  false  to  the 
authority  and  teaching  of  Christ,  and  is  contrary  to 
Paul’s  statement  of  the  Christian  doctrines  essential  to 
unity,  of  which  “  one  baptism  ”  is  one.  Also  unity  with¬ 
out  Christian  baptism  would  be  false  to  all  past  Christian 
experience  and  history,  which  records  the  failure  of  all 
efforts  to  unite  without  baptism,  and  shows  that  we  can 
never  have  a  united  church  on  a  divided  baptism.  Such 
a  unity  would  divide  more  than  it  would  unite,  and  would 
defeat  the  very  unity  that  it  was  intended  to  promote. 
It  seems  more  feasible  and  reasonable  for  all  to  accept 
and  practice  the  one  catholic  baptism  by  immersion,  be¬ 
cause  all  accept  this  as  valid  baptism,  and  can  unite  upon 
the  same.  The  College  of  Bishops  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  propose,  in  their  Lambeth  Quadrilateral,  such  a 
solution  of  the  problem,  which  seems  to  be  the  only 
practicable  and  Scriptural  solution.  This  is  at  least  com¬ 
mon  ground ;  and,  unless  there  is  a  disposition  on  the 
part  of  all  to  come  together  on  common  ground,  there 
is  no  hope  for  unity.  “  For  in  one  Spirit  we  were  all 
baptized  into  one  body,”  says  Paul,  “  which  is  the  church.” 
This  is  not  “  open  membership  ”  nor  “  common  member¬ 
ship,”  but  Scriptural  membership ;  and  that  which  brings 
all  into  the  universal  body  of  Christ  can  bring  all  into 


136 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


Christian  unity.  The  last  essential  doctrine  in  Paul's 
statement  is,  “  There  is 

One  God 

The  doctrine  of  “  one  God  ”  is  the  major  theme  of  the 
Bible.  It  is  this  teaching  that  distinguishes  the  Bible 
and  the  religion  of  the  same  from  all  other  books  and  re¬ 
ligions.  The  whole  Bible  from  Genesis  to  Revelation  is 
monotheistic  in  its  teaching,  and  was  written  to  reveal 
“  the  one  God,”  Jehovah,  the  Great  I  Am,  the  Beginning 
and  the  End,  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega.  In  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  He  speaks  all  things  into  existence  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  of  creation,  provides  for  and  watches  over  the  human 
race,  delivers  His  monotheistic  Decalogue  and  Law  of 
Moses  for  man’s  control  and  development,  blesses  the 
righteous  and  punishes  the  wicked,  and  during  all  the 
history  of  the  race  is  “  one  living  God  ”  ruling  and  reign¬ 
ing  in  the  world. 

In  the  New  Testament  we  find  the  same  “  one  living 
God.”  Christ  did  not  come  to  reveal  a  new  God  but  to 
make  a  further  revelation  of  the  God  of  the  Jews.  He 
came  to  supplement  or  complete  the  revelation  of  the  God 
of  the  Old  Testament.  To  the  revelation  of  God  in  the 
Old  Testament  he  adds  the  revelation  of  Him  as  “  the 
Father  of  all.”  God  as  a  Father  was  a  new  conception 
and  revelation  of  God,  which  was  Christ’s  chief  contribu¬ 
tion  to  man’s  knowledge  of  God.  He  called  God  Father, 
and  revealed  Him  as  such.  In  fact,  the  universal  Father¬ 
hood  of  God  was  fundamental  in  his  teaching,  and  was 
the  keynote  in  his  message  to  man.  In  this  one  word, 
“  Father,”  Christ  revealed  God  in  all  His  relationships 
with  man,  and  brought  man  into  closest  relationship  to 
God.  This  one  word  took  theology  out  of  the  schools  of 


DOCTRINE 


137 


the  Prophets  and  Rabbis,  and  placed  God  in  the  home, 
where  little  children  cry,  “  Abba,  Father.” 

God  is  not  only  “the  Father;”  but  He  is  “Father  of 
all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  all.”  This 
also  was  a  new  conception  and  revelation  of  God.  The 
God  of  the  Old  Testament  was  revealed  as  the  God  of 
the  Jews  only ;  but  Christ  came  to  reveal  Him  as  the  God 
of  the  whole  human  race, — the  universal  Father.  “  That 
God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  is  the  Father  of  all,” 
was  a  hard  doctrine  for  the  seclusive  and  exclusive  Jews 
of  Christ’s  day  to  accept.  Paul  emphasized  this,  saying, 
“  He  is  over  all  (watches  over  and  provides  for  all),  and 
through  all  (works  through  all),  and  in  all  (in  vital 
touch  with  all).” 

The  universal  brotherhood  of  man  is  a  logical  deduc¬ 
tion  from  the  universal  Fatherhood  of  God ;  and  upon 
these  two  great  doctrines,  which  were  the  major  themes 
in  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  rests  the 
foundation  of  Christian  unity.  If  God  is  Father  of  all, 
then  all  are  brethren,  and  all,  being  of  the  same  family 
with  a  common  Father,  ought  to  be  one.  This  is  the  fun¬ 
damental  reason  and  motive  for  unity ;  and,  unless  all 
believers  in  God  through  Christ  accept  and  practice  this 
fundamental  doctrine  of  Christ,  there  is  no  hope  for 
unity.  We  need,  therefore,  to  teach  and  emphasize  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man  as  the 
essential  motive  and  foundation  for  Christian  unity,  and 
thereby  bring  all  to  realize  that  “  there  is  one  God  and 
Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all  and  in 
all.” 

Conclusion 

“  There  is  one  body,  and  one  spirit,  even  as  ye  were 
called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling;  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over 


138 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


all,  and  through  all,  and  in  all.”  This  is  Paul’s  statement 
of  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  church,  for  which  all  in 
the  church  must  stand,  that  the  church  may  have  unity 
and  victory.  Christian  doctrine  is  as  essential  to  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  as  Christian  character.  Christians  cannot 
stand  together  except  they  stand  for  something, — some 
great  truths  that  bind  them  together ;  and  Paul  states  the 
doctrinal  truths,  for  which  all  in  the  church  must  stand. 
Any  union  that  is  merely  moral  and  ethical  is  not  Chris¬ 
tian  union ;  it  must  also  be  doctrinal  and  dogmatic  to  be 
Christian.  Union  on  Christ’s  morality  and  ethics  alone 
would  admit  all  extreme  sects  and  parties,  and  even 
rationalists  and  all  those  that  teach  and  believe  as  they 
please.  Such  a  union  would  be  a  world-wide  ethical 
society  but  not  the  universal  church  of  Christ.'  There 
must  be  an  orthodoxy  in  doctrine  as  well  as  character  for 
Christian  unity. 

However,  many  contend  at  this  point  that  doctrine  is 
destructive  of  unity,  that  it  has  been  the  bombshell  that 
has  scattered  and  divided  the  followers  of  Christ,  or  at 
least  it  has  been  productive  of  partisan  debates  and 
strifes,  which  have  been  largely  responsible  for  many 
divisions  in  the  church.  This  is  true;  but  at  the  same 
time  morality  and  ethics  cannot  exist  without  doctrine 
that  gives  a  divine  basis  and  authority  for  the  same. 
Otherwise  they  would  be  changeable  and  unstable,  and 
become  themselves  fertile  sources  of  debates  and  strife. 
Morality  and  ethics  must  be  founded  in  divine  teaching 
or  authoritative  truth  to  be  true,  lasting  and  binding. 

So,  then,  if  Christian  doctrine  is  essential  to  Christian 
unity,  whose  statement  of  the  essential  doctrines  of  the 
church  shall  we  accept,  if  not  the  Apostle  Paul’s?  Just 
here  lies  one  of  the  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  Chris¬ 
tian  unity.  The  differences  at  this  point  are  wide  and 


DOCTRINE 


139 


seemingly  irreconcilable.  Some  say  that  we  must  take 
the  statement  of  the  Pope;  others  the  statement  of  the 
divinely  inspired  Synods,  as  a  representative  of  the  Greek 
Church  states  in  the  following:  “  The  holy  Nicene  Creed 
and  the  dogmatic  decrees  of  the  seven  great  Ecumenical 
Synods  form  a  divine  basis,  infallible  and  of  indisputable 
validity.  By  those  Synods  the  Church  of  Christ,  then 
one  and  united,  spoke  the  final  words  on  the  question  of 
faith.  Any  change  of  these  doctrines  constitutes,  not 
progress  and  completion,  but  perversion  of  the  substance 
of  the  faith,  pernicious  and  perilous  innovation.  In  the 
Ecumenical  Synods  the  truth  of  the  faith  was  interpreted 
rightly  and  crystallized  definitely,  after  long  investigations 
and  discussions  by  the  Church,  on  the  basis  of  the  Holy 
Scripture  and  the  genuine  ancient  and  catholic  tradition.” 
While  many  other  communions  would  not  go  as  far  as 
the  above  statement  for  the  divine  authority  of  the  as¬ 
sembled  church  and  established  tradition,  yet  they  do  not 
accept  the  finality  of  the  New  Testament  on  these  mat¬ 
ters  ;  but  look  elsewhere  for  “  the  leading  of  the  Spirit.” 
Some  do  not  look  to  the  New  Testament  at  all  for 
authority  but  to  “  the  inner  consciousness.”  But,  after 
all,  when  we  have  considered  all  the  authoritative  state¬ 
ments  of  Christian  doctrine,  the  only  statement  that  all 
can  accept  and  unite  upon  is  the  New  Testament  state¬ 
ment,  which  is  summarized  by  Paul  as  follows :  “  There 
is  one  body,  and  one  spirit,  even  as  ye  were  called  in  one 
hope  of  your  calling ;  one  Lord ;  one  faith ;  one  baptism ; 
God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all, 
and  in  all.” 

However  some  that  profess  to  accept  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  authorities  as  final  demur  at  Paul’s  statement  as 
fixed  and  complete.  Some  desire  to  omit  one  or  more 
of  the  “  one  ”  things,  prescribed  by  Paul,  while  others 


140 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


desire  to  add  to  the  same.  For  instance,  some  on  account 
of  their  devotion  to  their  denomination,  would  like  to 
omit  the  “  one  body also  some  on  account  of  their  re¬ 
spective  denominational  creed,  would  like  to  omit  the 
“one  faith;”  and  others  on  account  of  their  prejudice 
would  like  to  omit  the  “  one  baptism.”  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  some  would  like  to  add  “  one  order  of  wor¬ 
ship  ”  and  “  one  polity  of  administration.”  On  these 
two  items  in  the  church  there  have  been  wide  differences ; 
and  the  church  has  often  divided  over  things  of  this 
nature.  Almost  every  sect  has  something  distinctive  and 
different  in  their  worship  and  organization ;  and  many  are 
strong  in  their  convictions  on  these  things,  most  all  of 
which  are  merely  customs  and  traditions  without  divine 
warrant  and  authority ;  but  people  have  always  been  more 
insistent  on  established  tradition  than  on  divine  revela¬ 
tion.  Many  insist  on  a  prescribed  ritual  with  fixed  forms 
and  ceremonies ;  and  some  go  so  far  as  to  insist  on  minor 
details,  such  as  “  one  kind  of  music,”  vocal  music,  and 
“  one  way  of  leading  the  music,”  by  a  man  with  a  tuning- 
fork — a  woman  with  an  organ  would  not  do.  Some  are 
sticklers  for  one  kind  of  organization  for  work  and  gov¬ 
ernment,  insisting  on  one  way  of  doing  missionary  work, 
some  with  and  some  without  any  organization  except  the 
local  congregation,  and  many  other  minor  matters  of 
administration.  While  items  of  worship  and  matters  of 
administration  are  important  in  the  work  and  worship  of 
the  church,  yet  they  are  not  essentials  of  Christian  unity. 
Paul  did  not  put  any  of  the  above  “one”  things  that  have 
to  do  with  the  worship  and  administration  of  the  church 
in  his  statement  of  the  essential  doctrines  for  unity.  In 
fact,  the  New  Testament  authorities  give  very  little  teach¬ 
ing  or  legislation  on  such  things.  So  far  as  worship  is 
concerned,  any  worship  of  God,  according  to  Christ,  is 


DOCTRINE 


141 


acceptable  that  is  “in  spirit  and  in  truth/’  Jno.  4;  and 
any  order  and  ritual  is  good  according  to  Paul  that  is 
“  edifying  ”  and  “  decently  and  in  order/’  I  Cor.  14. 
Also  any  church  polity  is  permissible  that  is  democratic 
and  expedient.  Eph.  2:19;  Col.  3 : 1 1 ;  I  Cor.  10:23;  or 
at  least  such  matters  are  not  made  essentials  of  Christian 
unity  by  New  Testament  authorities;  yet  they  have  dis¬ 
turbed  and  divided  the  church  from  the  very  beginning; 
and  to-day  they  constitute  some  of  the  greatest  barriers 
to  unity,  such  as  Priestly  Orders,  the  Historic  Bishopric, 
ecclesiastical  and  denominational  organizations  that  domi¬ 
nate  the  members  and  congregations,  iron-clad  rituals 
and  prescribed  items  and  orders  of  worship,  etc.  All  such 
things  do  not  rightfully  come  within  the  scope  of  essen¬ 
tial  doctrines  of  the  church.  No  one  of  the  seven  “  one  ” 
things  prescribed  by  Paul  can  be  interpreted  to  cover 
these  matters  of  worship  and  administration;  and  one’s 
teaching  and  convictions  on  these  things  should  not  be 
allowed  to  interfere  or  prevent  Christian  unity. 

If  the  figure,  seven,  means  anything  in  the  Scriptures, 
it  means  all,  completeness.  At  any  rate,  the  above  seven 
“  one  ”  things,  prescribed  by  Paul,  are  all  the  Christian 
doctrines  that  l^ave  to  do  with  Christian  unity.  There 
are  other  essential  doctrines  in  the  teaching  of  Christ 
and  His  Apostles,  such  as  love,  repentance,  etc. ;  but  they 
do  not  touch  the  problem  of  unity,  because  there  can  be 
no  such  thing  as  two  loves  and  two  repentances,  so  there 
is,  therefore,  no  grounds  for  differences  on  these  things 
that  make  it  necessary  to  prescribe  “  one  love  ”  and  “  one 
repentance.”  But  not  so  with  the  seven  “  one  ”  things 
that  Paul  prescribes.  Unity  could  not  be  without  “  one¬ 
ness  ”  on  these  things.  For  instance,  “  There  is  one 
body,” — a  multiplicity  of  bodies  is  the  very  opposite  of 
unity ;  “  one  Spirit,” — if  there  were  more,  some  would 


142 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


follow  one,  and  some  another,  and  unity  would  be  lost; 
“  one  Lord,” — if  there  were  two,  there  could  be  no  unity, 
“  for  you  cannot  serve  two  masters and  so  on.  Unity 
is  impossible  without  oneness  of  teaching  and  practice 
with  respect  to  the  seven  “  one  ”  doctrines,  which  Paul 
prescribes  for  Christian  unity,  as  reason  and  experience 
also  attest. 

So  any  one,  therefore,  that  either  adds  to  or  takes 
from  these  seven  essential  doctrines  for  unity  needs  to 
read  the  warning  of  Rev.  22: 18.  They  either  stand  or 
fall  together.  If  one  can  be  eliminated,  then  all  may  be 
omitted;  and  there  is  no  doctrinal  foundation  for  Chris¬ 
tian  unity,  which  is  absurd ;  and,  if  one  essential  doctrine 
can  be  added,  then  many  can ;  and  the  doctrinal  founda¬ 
tion  for  unity  would  have  to  contain  all  the  religious  doc¬ 
trines  in  the  world,  which  is  ridiculous.  Paul’s  state¬ 
ment  is  the  essential  deposit  of  Christian  doctrine,  and 
contains  nothing  more  nor  less  than  that  which  is  essen¬ 
tial  to  Christian  unity.  So  let  all,  therefore,  that  accept 
the  authority  of  Paul  as  final,  accept  it,  and  unite  upon 
it. 

This  chapter  is  unduly  long,  not  because  it  is  of  more 
importance  than  other  essentials  of  church  membership, 
but  because  it  covers  so  much  disputed  ground,  and  in¬ 
cludes  so  many  barriers  to  Christian  unity  to-day  that 
must  be  noticed  and  treated  in  any  frank,  worth-while 
discussion  of  the  subject  of  Christian  unity.  While  Paul 
states  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  church  in  one  brief 
sentence,  yet  it  takes  a  volume,  “  line  upon  line,  precept 
upon  precept,”  to  bring  all  to-day  to  accept  his  statement 
as  the  final  deposit  of  Christian  doctrine  and  to  unite 
upon  it. 


XII 


SERVICE 

BUT  unto  each  one  of  us  was  the  grace  given  according" 
to  the  measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ.  Wherefore  he 
sayeth,  When  he  ascended  on  high,  he  led  captivity  cap¬ 
tive,  and  gave  gifts  unto  men. 

“Now,  this,  he  ascended,  what  is  it  that  he  also  descended  intd 
the  lower  parts  of  the  earth?  He  that  descended  is  also  the 
same  that  ascended  far  above  all  the  heavens,  that  he  might  fill 
all  things.  And  he  gave  some  to  be  apostles ;  and  some,  proph¬ 
ets  ;  and  some,  evangelists ;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers ;  for 
the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  unto  the  work  of  ministering,  unto 
the  building  up  of  the  body  of  Christ:  till  we  all  attain  unto 
the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fullness  of  Christ :  that  we  may  be  no  longer  children,  tossed 
to  and  fro  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by 
the  sleight  of  men,  in  craftiness,  after  the  wiles  of  error;  but 
speaking  truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  in  all  things  into  him, 
who  is  the  head,  even  Christ;  from  whom  all  the  body  fitly 
framed  and  knit  together  through  that  which  every  joint  sup- 
plieth,  according  to  the  working  in  due  measure  of  each  several 
part,  maketh  the  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  building  up  of 
itself  in  love.”  4:7-16. 

The  above  is  Paul’s  statement  of  Christian  service, 
which  is  the  third  essential  respect  in  which  all  in  the 
church  must  be  for  the  church.  All  must  be  for  the 
church  in  active  service ;  or,  as  he  states  it  in  his  letter 
to  the  Romans,  must  “  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacri¬ 
fice,  holy,  acceptable  to  God,  which  is  your  spiritual 
service.”  Paul  not  only  besought  all  members  of  the 
church  to  do  this ;  but  he  did  it  himself.  “  I  have  been 
crucified  with  Christ;  and  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me ;  and  that  life  which  I  now  live  in 

the  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved 

143 


144 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


me  and  gave  himself  up  for  me.”  From  the  time  that 
Christ  spoke  to  Paul  out  of  the  sky,  and  he  answered, 
“  Lord,  what  wouldst  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  ”,  he  always 
referred  to  himself  as  “a  bond-servant  of  Jesus  Christ, 
called  to  be  an  apostle,”  and  conducted  himself  as  such. 
According  to  Paul,  faithful  consecrated  service  is  an  es¬ 
sential  requirement  of  all  those  that  come  into  the  church. 
“  We  are  saved  to  serve,”  is  the  Christian  ideal  for 
church  membership ;  and  everyone  that  enters  the  church 
must  dedicate  himself  accordingly  to  the  service  of  Christ 
and  humanity.  Also,  according  to  Christ,  one’s  place  and 
rank  in  the  kingdom  here  is  determined  by  his  service, 
which  is  the  Christian  standard  of  greatness.  “  Whoso¬ 
ever  would  become  great  among  you  shall  be  your  serv¬ 
ant;  and  whosoever  would  be  first  among  you  shall  be 
your  bond-servant :  even  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not 
to  be  served,  but  to  serve,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom 
for  many.”  Furthermore  the  reward  in  the  world  to 
come  is  to  “  the  good  and  faithful  servant,”  who  is  bid¬ 
den  to  “  enter  into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord.”  Service 
is  the  key  that  unlocks  the  door  to  life  here  and  also 
hereafter. 

Wherefore  Paul  sets  forth  Christian  service  in  detail 
in  his  statement  of  the  essentials  of  church  membership, 
two  of  which,  character  and  doctrine,  we  have  studied  in 
the  preceding  chapters ;  and  we  now  come  to  the  study 
of  the  third,  service ,  as  set  forth  by  Paul  in  the  above 
text.  Many  in  the  church  are  for  the  church  in  doctrine 
and  character,  that  is,  they  accept  and  possess  a  Christian 
character,  and  believe  every  Christian  doctrine ;  but  they 
never  do  anything  for  the  church, — they  are  not  for  the 
church  in  service.  They  lack  the  third  essential,  Chris¬ 
tian  service,  which  Paul  sets  out  in  the  above.  He 
speaks  first  of 


SERVICE 


145 


Gifts 

“  But  unto  each  one  of  us  was  the  grace  given  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ.  Wherefore  he 
sayeth, 

When  he  ascended  on  high,  he  led  captivity, 

And  gave  gifts  unto  men. 

(Now  this,  He  ascended,  what  is  it  but  that  he  also 
descended  into  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth?  He  that 
descended  is  the  same  that  ascended  far  above  all  the 
heavens  that  he  might  fill  all  things.”)  When  Christ 
ascended  into  the  heavens,  he  left  all  the  affairs  of  his 
kingdom  in  the  hands  of  his  disciples;  and  he  gave  gifts, 
or  talents  unto  them  that  they  might  be  qualified  to  con¬ 
tinue  the  work  which  he  had  started.  He  spoke  of  this 
himself  in  the  parable  of  the  Talents,  saying,  “  For  it  is 
as  a  man  going  into  another  country,  called  his  own 
servants,  and  delivered  unto  them  his  goods.  And  unto 
one  he  gave  five  talents,  to  another  two,  to  another  one ; 
to  each  according  to  his  several  ability ;  and  he  went  on 
his  journey.”  Paul  calls  these  gifts  or  talents  for  service 
“  the  grace,”  a  favour  from  the  Lord,  so  Christian  service 
is  more  a  favour  than  an  obligation ;  however  all  are  held 
to  a  strict  account  for  the  use  of  his  talents.  To  the  one 
that  failed  to  use  his  for  the  benefit  and  glory  of  the  Lord, 
He  said,  “  Thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant,  *  *  * 

out  into  the  outer  darkness,  where  there  shall  be  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth.”  There  is  no  one  in  the  church 
so  weak  and  humble  that  he  is  not  expected  to  serve  to 
the  extent  of  his  ability;  and,  if  he  uses  his  one  small 
talent  in  faithful  service  of  Christ  and  humanity,  he  shall 
receive  the  same  plaudit  and  reward  as  the  five-talent 
man,  “  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou 
into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord.” 


146 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


The  Work  and  Workers 

“  And  he  gave  some  to  be  apostles ;  and  some,  prophets ; 
and  some,  evangelists ;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers.” 
These  were  the  workers  (not  officers)  in  the  church;  and 
to  each  Christ  gave  a  gift  to  equip  and  qualify  him  for 
his  respective  work,  which  was  defined  by  the  meaning 
of  the  word.  For  instance,  if  he  was  an  apostle,  his  work 
was  that  of  one  sent  to  represent  Christ;  if  he  was  a 
prophet,  his  work  was  speaking  for  Christ;  if  an  evangel¬ 
ist,  his  work  was  proclaiming  the  gospel  of  salvation 
through  Christ ;  if  a  pastor,  his  work  was  shepherding  the 
flock  of  Christ ;  and,  if  a  teacher,  his  work  was  teaching 
the  doctrine  of  Christ.  While  these  respective  fields  are 
not  sharply  defined  from  each  other,  but  rather  overlap, 
yet  taken  together  they  cover  all  the  work  to' be  done  in 
the  church.  However,  we  do  not  have  two  of  these 
workers,  namely,  apostles  and  prophets,  in  the  church 
to-day,  because  their  work  was  completed  by  the  original 
apostles  and  prophets,  and  recorded  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  Scriptures,  which,  Paul  says,  “  thoroughly  furnish 
the  man  of  God  unto  every  good  work,”  so  we  do  not 
need  anyone  to-day  to  act  and  speak  for  Christ.  How¬ 
ever,  some  to-day  claim  to  represent  Christ ;  but  God  does 
not  “  bear  witness  with  them  by  signs  and  wonders  and 
by  manifold  powers  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,”  which 
were  the  divine  credentials  of  the  original  apostles  and 
prophets,  Mark  16:  17-18;  and  less  would  not  be  required 
of  those  to-day  that  claim  to  be  apostles  and  prophets.  In 
the  absence  of  these  divine  credentials  the  claims  of  Apos¬ 
tolic  Succession  and  Prophetic  Speaking,  which  are  bar¬ 
riers  to  Christian  unity  to-day,  are  without  justification, 
and  therefore  false. 

But  the  work  of  evangelizing,  shepherding  and  teach¬ 
ing  is  still  needed  in  the  church  to-day,  so  provisions  were 


SERVICE 


147 


made  for  the  continuation  of  these  workers  in  the  church. 
See  Titus  i :  5-9;  I  Tim.  3:1-13;  Acts  20:  17-18,  28-31 ; 
II  Tim.  2:1-2;  Acts  8:1-4;  Gal.  1:6-12.  While  this 
work  was  primarily  the  work  of  the  Elders,  Deacons  and 
Evangelists,  the  official  ministry  of  the  church ;  yet  there 
were  no  distinct  lines  drawn  between  their  work  and  the 
work  of  other  members  of  the  church,  except  that  of 
oversight  and  leadership,  which  was  a  difference  in  posi¬ 
tion  more  than  in  work.  All  were  required,  according 
to  their  gift  and  ability,  to  teach,  evangelize  and  care  for 
the  flock;  and  all  members  of  the  church  to-day  are  like¬ 
wise  required  to  help  in  this  service.  This  work  was  not 
intended  to  be  monopolized  by  the  official  ministry  of 
the  church ;  and,  wherever  this  is  done,  Christian  service 
is  greatly  weakened ;  and  Christian  unity  is  hindered.  All 
to  the  extent  of  their  gift  and  ability  are  expected  to  be 
teachers,  pastors  and  evangelists,  as  they  at  Jerusalem  that 
were  scattered  abroad  by  persecution  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  word  of  Jesus.  Some  of  the  most  effective 
and  efficient  teachers,  pastors  and  evangelists  that  have 
been  in  the  church  never  held  an  office  in  the  church,  but 
gave  themselves  heartily  and  zealously  to  this  service, 
wherever  and  whenever  the  opportunity  to  serve  pre¬ 
sented  itself.  All  can  do  this  work,  if  only  they  will; 
and  there  is  much  work  to  be  done.  “  The  harvest  indeed 
is  plenteous,  but  the  labourers  are  few.  Pray  ye  there¬ 
fore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  send  forth  labourers 
into  his  harvest.”  “  Go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyards,” 
says  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  who  said  of  himself,  “  I 
must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me,”  while  it  is 
day,  “  for  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work.”  And 
Paul  says,  “  My  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  im¬ 
movable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  for- 


148 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


asmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord” 

The  Goals 

First,  “for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints ”  is  a  goal  of 
Christian  service,  for  which  the  pastors  and  teachers  in 
the  church  work.  They  care  for,  feed  and  cultivate  the 
souls  of  the  saints,  and  do  everything  in  their  power  for 
the  spiritual  development  and  perfection  of  “  the  flock,  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  made  them  overseers.”  Every 
member  enters  the  kingdom  by  birth,  Jno.  3:  3-5,  and  is 
“  a  babe  in  Christ  ”  that  must  be  fed  first  “  with  milk  ” 
and  then  with  “  solid  food  which  is  for  full-grown  men;” 
and,  as  he  develops,  must  be  put  to  work  and  exercise  in 
the  church.  The  church  is  a  spiritual  gymnasium  (“  Ex¬ 
ercise — gymnaze — thyself  unto  godliness  ”),  'where  the 
soul  is  trained  and  developed.  It  is  the  school  for  the 
soul,  where  the  truth  that  has  to  do  with  the  life,  welfare 
and  destiny  of  the  soul  is  taught  and  practised.  It  is  a 
spiritual  garden,  where  “  God’s  husbandmen  ”  cultivate 
souls,  plucking  out  the  ugly  weeds  of  the  flesh  and  plant¬ 
ing  the  beautiful  flowers  and  fruits  of  the  spirit.  It  is 
God’s  studio,  where  spiritual  artists  chisel  away  the  fleshy 
dross  that  covers  the  soul,  and  mould  it  into  the  beauty 
and  perfection  of  the  likeness  of  God.  So,  for  all  pas¬ 
tors  and  teachers  in  the  church,  who  work  “  for  the  per¬ 
fecting  of  the  saints,”  there  is  the  highest  goal  of  human 
endeavour;  and  they  ought  to  realize  the  nature,  the 
greatness  and  sacredness  of  such  a  service.  There  is  no 
higher  or  more  sacred  calling. 

Next,  “  unto  the  work  of  ministering  ”  is  another  goal 
of  Christian  service.  In  the  Apostolic  church  there  was 
“  the  ministry  of  tables,”  “  the  ministry  for  the  relief  of 
widows,”  Good  Samaritan  ministries,  etc. ;  and  the  church 


SERVICE 


149 


to-day,  as  it  was  then,  is  in  the  midst  of  need  on  all  sides, 
for  the  relief  of  which  the  church  is  in  the  world.  For 
such  service,  even  though  it  be  little  and  humble,  Christ 
offers  the  highest  reward,  saying,  “  Then  shall  the  king 
say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  Come  ye  blessed  of  my 
Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world :  for  I  was  hungry,  and  you  gave 
me  to  eat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  you  gave  me  drink ;  I  was 
a  stranger,  and  you  took  me  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed 
me ;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me ;  I  was  in  prison,  and 
ye  came  unto  me.”  The  world  has  always  been  full  of 
such  need ;  and  the  stupendous  task  of  relieving  the  same, 
which  was  placed  upon  his  disciples,  calls  for  the  active 
service  of  all  in  the  church.  This  service  begins  with 
those  nearest  at  hand,  and  extends  to  all  that  one  can 
reach ;  and  there  is  no  service  that  brings  greater  returns 
of  joy  and  peace  here  and  hereafter. 

“  Unto  the  building  up  of  the  body  of  Christ,”  is  an¬ 
other  goal  of  Christian  service,  which  is  largely  the  work 
of  the  evangelists  in  the  church.  They  labour  under  the 
great  commission  of  Christ,  “  Go  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth, 
and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  disbelieveth 
shall  be  condemned,”  or,  “  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make 
disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of 
the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  teach¬ 
ing  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com¬ 
manded  you.”  Every  soul  saved,  or  every  disciple  made, 
is  a  spiritual  stone  built  into  the  Holy  Temple  of  the 
Lord,  the  church,  “  Ye,  as  living  stones,  are  built  up  a 
spiritual  house,  to  be  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spirit¬ 
ual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ.” 
To  the  builders  of  the  church  Paul  writes,  “  According 
to  the  grace  of  God,  which  was  given  unto  me,  as  a  wise 


150 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


master-builder,  I  laid  a  foundation ;  and  another  buildeth 
thereon.  But  let  each  man  take  heed  how  he  buildeth 
thereon.  For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
which  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.  But  if  any  man 
buildeth  on  the  foundation  gold,  silver,  costly  stones, 
wood,  hay,  stubble ;  each  man’s  work  shall  be  made  mani¬ 
fest  ;  for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  because  it  is  revealed 
in  fire ;  and  the  fire  itself  shall  prove  each  man’s  work 
of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man’s  work  shall  abide  which 
he  built  thereon,  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any  man’s 
work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss ;  but  he  himself 
shall  be  saved ;  yet  so  as  through  fire.”  However  the 
building  of  this  world  temple  is  too  big  a  task  for  a  few 
professional  evangelists.  It  is  the  task  of  the  whole 
church ;  all  must  be  preachers  of  the  gospel,  as  they  were 
in  the  beginning  at  Jerusalem;  and  all  must  work  to¬ 
gether  “  unto  the  building  up  (the  completion)  of  the 
body  of  Christ,” — a  goal  for  Christian  service  that  calls 
for  the  united  efforts  of  all  Christians. 

The  Ideals 

First,  “  till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith  and 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,”  is  an  ideal  for 
Christian  service.  Paul  mentions  this  first,  because 
Christian  unity  is  the  major  theme  of  his  letter.  His 
statement  of  this  ideal  is  very  definite  and  specific,  and 
shows  clearly  for  what  unity  Christians  should  work.  It 
is  “  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,”  (not  a  unity  of  a  faith  and  knowledge  of  a 
Son  of  God).  Everybody  knows,  and  believes  something 
about  Jesus  Christ;  but  Christian  faith  and  knowledge 
are  a  definite  and  specific  faith  and  knowledge, — “  one 
faith  ”  and  knowledge ;  and  Christian  unity  requires  that 
all  believe  and  know  the  same  things  about  Him.  This 


SERVICE 


151 


faith  and  knowledge  were  “  once  for  all  delivered  to  the 
saints,”  and  recorded  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures. 
For  all  to  attain  unto  the  unity  of  this  faith  and  knowl¬ 
edge  as  herein  contained  and  expressed  is  a  high  ideal  for 
the  church,  in  fact,  one  that  the  Apostolic  church  did  not 
fully  reach,  because  Christ  had  not  been  fully  revealed 
and  comprehended  by  all  in  the  church.  Accordingly,  in 
the  beginning  of  his  letter  Paul  prays  “  that  the  God  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  glory,  may  give 
unto  you  a  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  him,”  which  shows  that  “  the  faith  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  ”  were  no  easy  attainment. 
It  is  perhaps  easier  to-day,  because  He  is  more  fully  re¬ 
vealed  in  the  New  Testament  than  He  was  to  the  Apos¬ 
tolic  church;  however,  the  New  Testament  does  not 
reveal  Him  in  all  His  fullness  and  glory,  so  to  reach  this 
ideal  of  faith  and  knowledge  completely  we  would  have 
to  have  a  perfect  faith  and  absolute  knowledge  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  is  beyond  the  reach  and  grasp  of  human 
souls  and  minds ;  but  we  can  know  and  believe  in  Him 
as  we  see  Him  revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
thereby  press  on  toward  this  ideal  of  faith  and  knowl¬ 
edge  ;  and,  if  all  do  this  we  shall  thereby  “  attain  unto  the 
unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of 
God,”  which  is  Christian  unity  here ;  and,  as  we  grow 
and  develop,  and  finally  pass  over  to  be  with  Christ,  we 
shall  “  know  Him  as  He  is and  our  minds  and  souls 
shall  embrace  the  whole  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 

Second,  “  unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of 
the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ,”  is  the  ethical  ideal 
of  all  Christian  service,  which  every  member  of  the 
church  strives  to  realize.  Such  a  high  ideal  lies  far 
beyond  human  reach ;  but  all  can  do  as  Paul,  who,  in 
speaking  of  his  efforts  to  realize  this  ideal  in  his  life,  said, 


152 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


“  Not  that  I  have  already  obtained,  or  am  already  made 
perfect ;  but  I  press  on,  if  so  be  I  may  lay  hold  on  that  for 
which  I  also  was  laid  hold  on  by  Jesus  Christ,  Brethren, 
I  count  myself  yet  to  have  laid  hold :  but  one  thing  I  do, 
forgetting  the  things  that  are  past  and  stretching  forward 
to  the  things  that  are  before,  I  press  on  toward  the  goal 
unto  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.,, 
This  is  indeed  “  a  high  calling,”  or  ideal,  in  fact  the  high¬ 
est  that  can  be  conceived  by  the  human  mind,  as  even 
infidels  have  confessed,  as  follows : 

“  Beyond  the  elevation  and  moral  culture  of  Christ,  as 
it  gleams  and  shines  forth  in  the  Gospels,  men  will  never 
pass.” — Goethe. 

“  The  coming  ages  will  proclaim  that  among  the  sons 
of  men  there  is  none  born  greater  than  Jesus.”— Renan. 

“  The  ethical  principles  of  Christ  will  never  be  im¬ 
proved  upon.” — Payne. 

“  If  Christ  were  followed  by  his  disciples,  I  would  be¬ 
lieve  on  him.” — Ingersoll. 

But,  if  the  disciples  of  Christ  could  follow  Him  com¬ 
pletely  and  fully,  He  would  no  longer  be  the  ideal  of  the 
race  ;  but,  as  He  is,  He  is  the  ideal  of  all  human  endeavour, 
which  all  strive  to  realize.  He  is  the  ideal,  toward  which 
the  pastors  and  teachers  work  in  their  service  of  others 
in  the  church,  endeavouring  to  develop  each  member 
“  unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  the  fullness  of  Christ.” 

The  realization  of  this  ideal  is  a  matter  of  Christian 
growth  into  spiritual  manhood,  “  that  we  may  be  no 
longer  children,  tossed  to  and  fro  and  carried  about  with 
every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men,  in  crafti¬ 
ness  after  the  wiles  of  error;  but  speaking  truth  in  love 
may  grow  up  in  all  things  into  him,  who  is  the  head,  even 


SERVICE 


153 


Christ/’  This  growth  is  slow  and  natural;  but  it  must 
be  cultivated ;  and  herein  lies  the  ideal  of  Christian 
service. 

The  ideal  of  the  church  as  a  whole  is  stated  by  Paul 
as  follows :  “  From  whom  all  the  body  fitly  framed  and 
knit  together,  through  that  which  every  joint  supplieth, 
according  to  the  working  in  due  measure  of  each  several 
part,  maketh  the  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  building 
up  of  itself  in  love.”  This  ideal  is  expressed  by  the  figure 
or  illustration  of  the  human  body  with  every  member  and 
part,  “  fitly  framed  and  knit  together  ”  and  working  in 
perfect  unison,  harmony  and  love,  and  thereby  building 
itself  up  in  growth  and  progress.  The  growth  and 
progress  of  the  human  body  is  natural,  active,  harmoni¬ 
ous,  co-operative,  unified,  progressive,  and  everything 
else  that  is  necessary  to  make  the  church  as  a  body  or 
whole  what  it  should  be.  The  human  body  is  ideal  in  all 
respects,  because  God  made  it  so ;  and  it  is  the  pattern 
for  the  body  of  Christ,  the  church.  And  “  As  Moses  is 
warned  of  God,  when  he  is  about  to  make  the  Tabernacle 
(the  church  in  the  wilderness),  See  that  thou  makest  ail 
things  according  to  the  pattern  that  was  shown  thee  in 
the  mount.”  So  Paul  warns  us ;  and  the  pattern  that 
is  shown  us  is  the  human  body.  He  cautions  that  the 
church  be  given  the  right  head,  “  even  Christ  ”  and  that 
all  members  work  in  harmony  and  unity  for  the  increase 
and  building  up  of  the  body  in  love.  See  also  I  Cor. 
12:  12-31,  where  Paul  elaborates  this  ideal.  Such  an 
ideal  calls  for  the  active  service  of  every  member  of  the 
church,  and  unites  all  in  active,  faithful  loving  service 
for  the  increase  and  development  of  the  church.  This  is 
Christian  unity,  which  is  the  major  theme  of  Paul’s 
letter. 


154 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


Conclusion 

The  paragraph  of  Paul’s  letter,  which  we  have  analyzed 
and  studied  under  the  above  heads,  sets  forth  the  prac¬ 
tical  side  of  Christian  unity, — unity  in  Christian  service. 
And  after  all  is  said,  this  is  the  very  heart  of  Christian 
unity.  If  Christian  unity  does  not  mean  this,  and  pro¬ 
duce  this,  it  is  nothing.  “  We  are  God’s  co-workers,  or 
workers  together  for  God,”  says  Paul ;  and  this  is  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  in  its  real  and  final  meaning.  Many  seem  to 
think  of  Christian  unity  as  existing  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  Christians,  as  being  a  subjective  state  (and  it 
does  have  its  essential  subjective  conditions)  ;  but  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  itself  is  more  a  unity  of  hands  and  tongues 
than  of  heads  and  hearts.  Accordingly,  there  is  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  in  any  community,  where  all  the  Christians  of 
the  same  are  working  together  for  God  in  order,  harmony 
and  love ;  and  without  such  a  unity  of  service  there  can 
be  no  Christian  unity.  Wherefore,  Paul  teaches  that  all 
in  the  church  must  be  for  the  church  in  active  Christian 
service,  and  thereby  realize  practical  Christian  unity. 


XIII 


CONDUCT 

PAUL  devotes  nearly  all  of  the  remainder  of  his 
letter  to  Christian  conduct,  showing  that  all  must 
be  for  the  church  in  conduct,  or,  in  other  words, 
must  live  such  lives  that  their  conduct  will  be  becoming 
Christians  and  for  the  church.  Wherefore  Paul  writes, 
“  Look  therefore  carefully  how  ye  walk,”  because  “  ye 
are  an  epistle  of  Christ,  known  and  read  of  all  men.”  No 
one  can  be  for  Christ  in  theory  and  against  him  in  prac¬ 
tice.  He  must  make  his  conduct  conform  to  his  profes¬ 
sion,  otherwise  his  religion  is  not  Christian ;  and  his 
church  membership  is  libelous  of  the  church  of  Christ. 

The  reason  for  this  is  evident.  Conduct,  unbecoming  a 
Christian,  in  a  member  of  the  church  cancels  his  claim 
of  Christian  character,  repudiates  his  stand  for  Christian 
doctrine,  and  makes  hypocrisy  of  his  service  in  the 
church.'  Christian  conduct  is  the  final  test  of  all  Chris- 
tion  profession.  It  matters  not  how  much  he  admires  and 
professes  to  have  Christian  character,  how  strongly  he 
believes  and  defends  Christian  doctrine,  and  how  dili¬ 
gently  he  engages  in  Christian  service ;  it  will  profit  him 
nothing,  unless  he  lives  the  Christian  life.  He  may  truly 
accept  the  holy  character,  he  may  valiantly  stand  for  the 
holy  doctrine,  and  he  may  actively  engage  in  the  holy 
service;  yet,  unless  all  this  finds  expression  in  the  holy 
life,  his  whole  Christian  profession  is  a  sham  and  a  sub¬ 
terfuge.  True  Christian  conduct,  according  to  Christ  and 
Paul,  is  the  final  sine  qua  non  of  a  disciple  of  Christ,  and 

155 


156 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


is  required  of  all  that  profess  to  be  in  and  for  the 
church. 

There  was  great  need  of  teaching  Christian  conduct 
in  the  Apostolic  church,  because  the  standards  of  living 
in  that  age  were  very  low.  Even  the  prevailing  religions 
of  that  day,  which  for  the  most  part  were  a  deification 
of  the  fleshly  appetites  and  passions,  were  degrading  and 
demoralizing ;  and  there  were  few  moral  restraints  placed 
upon  the  people  in  any  way.  They  became  so  desolute 
that  “  God  gave  them  up  unto  vile  passions  ”  and 
“  a  reprobate  mind,”  because  “  they  refused  to  have  God 
in  their  knowledge  and  lives.”  Paul’s  moral  indictment 
of  that  corrupt  age  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  letter  to  the 
Romans  is  revolting  and  almost  unbelievable ;  yet  all  his¬ 
tory  of  this  age  shows  it  to  be  true.  It  was  into  such  a 
moral  environment  that  Christianity  was  born;  and  it 
was  from  such  degraded  society  that  the  early  church 
drew  its  members.  It  was  a  herculean  task,  a  moral 
miracle,  to  lift  people  from  such  depths  of  moral  degrada¬ 
tion  and  commit  and  keep  them  true  to  Christian  stand¬ 
ards  of  living.  It  necessarily  required  much  teaching, 
exhortation  and  examples  of  Christian  living;  and  yet, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  Apostles  to  make  and 
keep  the  church  morally  upright  and  clean,  there  were 
now  and  then  gross  immoralities,  such  as  incest,  fornica¬ 
tion,  drunkenness,  etc,,  in  the  churcji.  However,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  wicked  environment  of  the  church,  Christian 
patience  and  toleration  were  shown  toward  those  that 
fell ;  and  every  effort  was  made  to  restore  such  to  Chris¬ 
tian  living.  See  I  Cor.  5  and  II  Cor.  2:  5-11.  To  this 
end  Paul  wrote  Gal.  6:  1-5;  and  all  his  letters  abound  in 
commands  and  exhortations  to  Christian  living. 

Christ  was  no  less  strict  in  his  moral  requirements. 
The  holy  life,  Christian  conduct,  was  the  final  test  of  dis- 


CONDUCT 


157 


cipleship.  To  those  that  made  professions  of  orthodoxy 
in  religion,  saying,  “  Lord,  Lord,  did  we  not  prophesy 
in  thy  name,  and  by  thy  name  cast  out  demons,  and 
by  thy  name  do  many  mighty  works?”  He  said,  “De¬ 
part  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity.”  In  no  other  way 
can  we  “  let  our  lights  shine  ”  truly  for  Christ  and  His 
church.  Christian  conduct  is  the  flaming  torch  that  lights 
the  way  of  those  in  the  darkness  of  this  world  who  would 
“  glorify  the  Father  who  is  in  heaven.”  On  the  other 
hand,  nothing  can  injure  the  church  more  than  the  false 
living  of  its  members.  In  fact,  no  one  can  be  for  the 
church,  and  live  a  life  contrary  to  the  moral  and  ethical 
standards  of  the  same. 

For  this  reason  Paul  sets  out  at  length  and  in  detail 
Christian  conduct,  or  conduct  that  will  be  for  the  church. 
He  sets  forth  both  what  members  of  the  church  should 
do  and  what  they  should  not  do.  He  teaches  first  the 
becoming  conduct  of  Christians  in  general,  and  then  the 
becoming  conduct  of  the  specific  classes  in  the  church, 
such  as  husbands,  wives,  children  and  servants.  His 
teaching  is  so  simple  and  clear  that  it  needs  no  comment 
or  elaboration,  so  it  is  merely  quoted  under  the  follow¬ 
ing  heads : 

(i)  The  Conduct  of  Christians  in  General: 

“  This  I  say  therefore,  and  testify  in  the  Lord,  that 
ye  no  longer  walk  as  the  Gentiles  also  walk,  in  the 
vanity  of  their  mind,  being  darkened  in  their  under¬ 
standing,  alienated  from  the  life  of  God,  because  of  the 
ignorance  that  is  in  them,  because  of  the  hardening  of 
their  heart ;  who  being  past  feeling  gave  themselves  up 
to  lasciviousness,  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greedi¬ 
ness,  but  ye  did  not  so  learn  Christ ;  if  so  be  that  ye 
heard  him,  and  were  taught  in  him,  even  as  truth  is 
in  Jesus;  that  ye  put  away,  as  concerning  your  former 


158 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


manner  of  life,  the  old  man,  that  waxeth  corrupt  after 
the  lusts  of  deceit ;  and  that  ye  be  renewed  in  the  spirit 
of  your  mind,  and  put  on  the  new  man,  that  after  God 
hath  been  created  in  righteousness  and  holiness  of 
truth. 

“  Wherefore,  putting  away  falsehood,  speak  ye  the 
truth  each  one  with  his  neighbour:  for  we  are  mem¬ 
bers  one  of  another.  Be  ye  angry,  and  sin  not:  let 
not  the  sun  go  down  upon  your  wrath:  neither  give 
place  to  the  devil.  Let  him  that  stole  steal  no  more; 
but  rather  let  him  labour,  working  with  his  hands  the 
thing  that  is  good,  that  he  may  have  whereof  to  give 
to  him  that  hath  need.  Let  no  corrupt  speech  proceed 
out  of  your  mouth,  but  such  as  is  good  for  edifying 
as  the  need  may  be,  that  it  may  give  grace' to  them  that 
hear.  And  grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  in  whom 
ye  were  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption.  Let  all 
bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamour,  and 
railing,  be  put  away  from  you,  with  all  malice :  and  be 
ye  kind  one  to  another,  tenderhearted,  forgiving  each 
other,  even  as  God  also  in  Christ  forgave  you. 

“  Be  ye  therefore  imitators  of  God  as  beloved  chil¬ 
dren  ;  and  walk  in  love,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  you, 
and  gave  himself  up  for  us,  and  offering  and  a  sacrifice 
to  God  for  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell. 

“  But  fornication  and  all  uncleanness,  or  covetous¬ 
ness,  let  it  not  even  be  named  among  you,  as  becometh 
saints;  nor  filthiness,  nor  foolish  talking,  or  jesting, 
which  are  not  befitting:  rather  giving  of  thanks.  For 
this  ye  know  of  a  surety  that  no  fornicator,  nor  un¬ 
clean  person,  nor  covetous  man,  who  is  an  idolator, 
hath  any  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  God. 
Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  empty  words:  for  be¬ 
cause  of  these  things  cometh  the  wrath  of  God  upon 


CONDUCT 


159 


the  sons  of  disobedience.  Be  ye  partakers  therefore 
with  them;  for  ye  were  once  darkness,  but  are  now 
light  in  the  Lord;  walk  as  children  of  light  (for  the 
fruit  of  the  light  is  in  all  goodness  and  righteousness 
and  truth),  proving  what  is  well  pleasing  unto  the 
Lord;  and  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful 
works  of  darkness,  but  rather  even  reprove  them ;  for 
the  things  that  are  done  by  them  in  secret  is  a  shame 
even  to  speak  of.  But  all  things  when  they  are  re¬ 
proved  are  made  manifest  by  the  light ;  for  everything 
that  is  made  manifest  is  light.  Wherefore  he  sayeth, 
Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead, 
and  Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee. 

“  Look  therefore  carefully  how  ye  walk,  not  as  un¬ 
wise,  but  as  wise ;  redeeming  the  time,  because  the  days 
are  evil.  Wherefore  be  ye  not  foolish,  but  understand 
what  the  will  of  the  Lord  is.  And  be  ye  not  drunker* 
with  wine,  wherein  is  riot,  but  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  l 
speaking  one  to  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spir¬ 
itual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  with  your  heark 
to  the  Lord :  giving  thanks  always  for  all  things  in  th£ 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  God,  even  th£ 
Father;  subjecting  yourselves  one  to  another  in  the 
fear  of  Christ. 

(2)  Conduct  of  Wives  and  Husbands: 

“  Wives,  be  in  subjection  unto  your  husbands,  as 
unto  the  Lord.  For  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the 
wife,  as  Christ  also  is  the  head  of  the  church,  being 
himself  the  saviour  of  the  body.  But  as  the  church 
is  subject  to  Christ,  so  let  the  wives  also  be  to  their 
husbands  in  everything.  Husbands,  love  your  wives, 
even  as  Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself 
up  for  it;  that  he  might  sanctify  it,  having  cleansed  it 
by  the  washing  of  water  with  the  word,  that  he  might 


160 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


present  the  church  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not 
having  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing;  but  that  it 
should  be  holy  and  without  blemish.  Even  so  ought 
husbands  also  to  love  their  own  wives  as  their  own 
bodies.  He  that  loveth  his  own  wife  loveth  himself; 
for  no  man  ever  hated  his  own  flesh,  but  nourisheth  it 
and  cherisheth  it,  even  as  Christ  also  the  church;  be¬ 
cause  we  are  members  of  his  body.  For  this  cause 
shall  a  man  leave  his  mother  and  father,  and  shall 
cleave  to  his  wife ;  and  the  two  shall  become  one  flesh. 
This  mystery  is  great ;  but  I  speak  in  regard  of  Christ 
and  of  the  church.  Nevertheless  do  ye  also  severally 
love  each  one  his  own  wife  even  as  himself ;  and  let 
the  wife  see  that  she  fear  her  husband.” 

(3)  Conduct  of  Children  and  Parents: 

“  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord ;  for  this 
is  right.  Honour  thy  father  and  mother  (which  is  the 
first  commandment  with  promise),  that  it  may  be  well 
with  thee,  and  thou  mayest  live  long  on  the  earth. 
And  ye  fathers  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath; 
but  nurture  them  in  the  chastening  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord.” 

(4)  Conduct  of  Servants  and  Masters: 

“  Servants,  be  obedient  unto  them  that  according  to 
the  flesh  are  your  masters,  with  fear  and  trembling,  in 
singleness  of  your  heart,  as  unto  Christ;  with  good 
will  doing  service,  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men ; 
knowing  that  whatsoever  good  thing  each  one  doeth, 
the  same  shall  he  receive  again  from  the  Lord,  whether 
he  be  bond  or  free.  And,  ye  masters,  do  the  same 
things  unto  them,  and  forbear  threatening,  knowing 
that  he  who  is  both  their  master  and  yours  is  in 
heaven,  and  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  him.” 
There  are  two  lives  that  run  through  the  whole  of 


v 


CONDUCT 


161 


Paul’s  teaching  on  Christian  conduct,  namely,  the  life  of 
“  the  old  man,”  the  man  of  flesh,  and  the  life  of  “  the 
new  man,”  the  man  of  spirit,  which  is  Christian  life. 
Christian  life  is  a  “  new  ”  life, — “  We  arise  to  walk  in 
newness  of  life;”  and  this  new  life  of  the  spirit  is  given 
by  contrast  with  the  old  life  of  the  flesh,  which  is  forbid¬ 
den  Christians.  The  conduct  of  “the  old  man,”  the  things 
that  Christians  must  not  do,  and  the  conduct  of  “  the  new 
man,”  the  things  that  Christians  must  do,  as  gathered 
from  Paul’s  statement  above,  are  as  follows: 


The  conduct  of  “ the  old 
man  ” : 

Lying ;  anger  ;  stealing ;  cor¬ 
rupt  speech ;  grieving  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  bitterness ; 
wrath;  clamour;  railing; 
malice  ;  fornication  ;  un¬ 
cleanness  ;  coveteousness ; 
filthiness  ;  foolish  talking ; 
jesting;  drunkenness;  eye- 
service  ;  threatening ;  etc. 


The  conduct  of  “  the  new 
man  ” : 

Telling  the  truth;  work; 
almsgiving;  edifying 
speech  ;  kindness ;  tender¬ 
heartedness  ;  forgiveness ; 
thanksgiving ;  righteous¬ 
ness ;  truth;  praising  God; 
love ;  obedience  to  parents 
and  masters ;  honour  of 
parents ;  etc. 


It  is  evident  from  the  above  that  Christian  conduct  is 
just  the  old  question  of  right  and  wrong,  sin  and  right¬ 
eousness.  There  are  only  two  lives  to  live,  the  evil  and 
the  good;  only  two  masters  to  serve,  the  corrupt  Prince 
of  this  world  and  the  holy  Prince  of  life;  and  only  two 
classes  of  people  in  the  world,  saints  and  sinners,  the 
world  and  the  church ;  and  everyone  must  choose  and  fol¬ 
low  the  one  or  the  other  in  his  life,  and  conform  his  con¬ 
duct  according  to  his  choice.  Christian  conduct  consists 
of  “  Abhorring  that  which  is  evil  and  clinging  to  that 
which  is  good.”  “  Let  not  sin  therefore  reign  in  your 
mortal  body,  that  ye  should  obey  the  lusts  thereof ; 
neither  present  your  members  unto  sin  as  instruments  of 
unrighteousness ;  but  present  yourselves  unto  God,  as 
alive  from  the  dead,  and  your  members  as  instruments 


162 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


of  righteousness  unto  God.”  This  is  Christian  conduct; 
and,  when  all  members  of  the  church  do  this,  there  is 
unity  of  conduct  in  the  church,  which  is  a  vital  part  of 
Christian  unity. 

Christian  conduct  has  a  vital  bearing  on  Christian  unity 
in  many  ways.  Christ  recognized  this  in  his  prayer  for 
the  unity  of  his  disciples.  “  I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldst 
take  them  from  the  world,  but  thou  shouldst  keep  them 
from  the  evil  one.  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I 
am  not  of  the  world.”  Christian  conduct  is  one  of  the 
things  that  distinguishes  the  church  from  the  world,  and 
makes  the  disciples  of  Christ  one  in  him.  Furthermore, 
there  is  nothing  that  is  more  disturbing  and  divisive  of 
the  church  from  within  than  the  “  disorderly  walk  ”  of 
members ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  when  all  are  united  in 
living  the  Christian  life,  each  helping  the  other  to  shun 
the  evil  and  choose  the  good,  there  is  no  stronger  tie  and 
bond  of  unity.  The  unity  of  kindred  lives  as  expressed 
in  the  unity  of  Christian  conduct  is  an  essential  of  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  as  taught  by  Christ  and  the  Apostle  Paul ;  and 
all  in  the  church  must,  therefore,  be  for  the  church  in 
Christian  conduct,  and  thereby  unite  for  Christ  and 
righteousness. 


XIV 


BATTLE 

FINALLY,  be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  strength  of 
his  might.  Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God,  that  ye 
may  be  able  to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil.  For 
our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
the  principalities,  against  the  powers,  against  the  world-rulers 
of  this  darkness,  against  the  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness  in  the 
heavenly  places.  Wherefore  take  up  the  whole  armour  of  God, 
that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  in  the  evil  day,  and,  having  done 
all,  to  stand.  Stand,  therefore,  having  girded  your  loins  with 
truth,  and  having  put  on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness,  and 
having  shod  your  feet  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of 
peace;  withal  taking  up  the  shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye  shall 
be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one.  And  take 
the  helmet  of  salvation  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the 
word  of  God;  with  all  prayer  and  supplication  praying  at  all 
seasons  in  the  Spirit,  and  watching  thereunto  in  all  perseverance 
and  supplication  for  all  the  saints,  and  on  my  behalf,  that  utter¬ 
ance  may  be  given  unto  me  in  opening  my  mouth,  to  make  known 
with  boldness  the  mystery  of  the  gospel,  for  which  I  am  an 
ambassador  in  chains ;  that  in  it  I  may  speak  boldly  as  I  ought 
to  speak.  But  that  ye  also  may  know  my  affairs,  how  I  do, 
Tychicus,  the  beloved  brother  and  faithful  minister  in  the  Lord, 
shall  make  known  to  you  all  things :  who  I  have  sent  unto  you 
for  this  very  purpose,  that  ye  may  know  our  state,  that  ye  may 
comfort  your  hearts.”  Eph.  6 : 10-22. 

In  the  above  Paul  sets  forth  Christian  battle,  or  war¬ 
fare,  which  is  the  last  essential  of  church  membership. 
The  preceding  essentials,  Christian  character,  doctrine, 
service  and  conduct,  which  have  been  studied  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  chapters,  make  Christian  warfare  necessary,  be¬ 
cause  they  all  involve  effort  and  struggle.  The  develop¬ 
ment  of  Christian  character  is  a  high  endeavour  that  calls 

for  the  fartherest  reaches  of  the  soul;  the  defense  of 

H63 


164 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


Christian  doctrine  is  an  undertaking  that  requires  all  the 
abilities  of  the  mind;  the  work  of  Christian  service  is  a 
task  that  requires  all  the  powers  and  faculties  of  the  body 
to  fulfill;  and  the  living  of  the  Christian  life,  or  Chris¬ 
tian  conduct  is  an  effort  that  demands  all  the  strength  of 
the  body,  mind  and  soul.  All  this  means  effort  and  strug¬ 
gle, — a  battle  wherein  great  spiritual  strength,  strong 
moral  courage  and  the  best  religious  training  and  equip¬ 
ment  are  required.  Without  such  a  battle  Christian  char¬ 
acter  would  be  low,  Christian  doctrine  weak,  Christian 
service  ineffective  and  Christian  conduct  deficient.  Chris¬ 
tian  battle,  as  set  forth  by  Paul  in  the  above,  is  the 
essential  means  of  realizing  all  the  other  essentials  of 
Christianity. 

However,  there  are  few  in  the  church  that  seem  to 
realize  that  the  church  is  a  militant  institution.  They 
seem  to  look  upon  it  as  a  place  for  spiritual  rest  and 
recreation;  but  nothing  could  have  been  further  from 
Paul’s  conception  of  the  church;  and  the  Old  Testament 
prophets  say,  “  Woe  unto  those  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion.” 
“  Fight  the  good  fight  of  the  faith,  lay  hold  on  the 
eternal  life,  whereunto  thou  wast  called,  and  didst  make 
the  good  confession  before  many  witnesses,”  wrote  Paul 
to  Timothy.  While  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  His 
Apostles  was  against  all  physical  and  fleshly  warfare ;  yet 
they  enjoined  a  spiritual  warfare,  in  which  every  disciple 
must  be  a  soldier.  While  Christ  commanded  Peter  to 
“  put  up  the  sword,”  and  said  to  Pilate,  “  My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world:  if  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world, 
then  would  my  servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be  de¬ 
livered  to  the  Jews;  but  now  is  my  kingdom  not  from 
hence ;”  yet  He  also  said,  “  Think  not  that  I  came  to  send 
peace  on  the  earth;  I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a 
sword;”  and  “  Now,  he  that  hath  a  purse,  let  him  take  it, 


BATTLE 


165 


and  likewise  a  wallet ;  and  he  that  hath  none,  let  him  sell 
his  cloak,  and  buy  a  sword.”  These  statements  are  not 
contradictory,  but  refer  to  two  kinds  of  warfare,  the  one 
carnal  and  the  other  spiritual.  The  church  in  the  world 
is  the  Lord’s  visible  army,  which  is  organized  to  fight  His 
battles.  It  is  set  for  the  overthrow  and  defeat  of  all 
the  forces  of  evil  in  the  world,  which  Paul  says  are 
mighty.  “  For  our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and 
blood,  but  against  the  principalities,  against  the  powers, 
against  the  world-rulers  of  this  darkness,  against  the 
spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness  in  heavenly  places.”  This 
warfare  began  in  heaven,  when  the  prince  of  evil  was 
cast  out,  and  has  continued  on  earth  from  the  Garden  of 
Eden  throughout  all  the  ages  of  the  past,  and  will  con¬ 
tinue,  until  the  final  and  complete  victory  over  Satan, 
when  he  and  all  his  hosts  will  be  bound  and  cast  into  the 
abyss  and  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone.  Rev.  20. 

Every  one,  therefore,  that  comes  into  the  church  comes 
for  battle,  comes  as  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ  to  “  stand  at 
Harmageddon,  and  do  battle  for  the  Lord.”  Church 
membership,  then,  is  no  child’s  play,  but  a  man’s  battle, 
where  courageous  souls  fight  for  God  against  Satan,  for 
the  right  against  the  wrong,  for  the  church  against  the 
world.  Every  one  in  the  church  must,  therefore,  be  for 
the  church  in  this  mighty  battle.  There  is  no  neutral 
ground.  “  He  that  is  not  for  me  is  against  me,”  says 
Christ,  the  Captain  of  our  salvation.  The  clarion  call, 
“Who  is  on  the  Lord’s  side?”,  is  sounded  forth  to  all; 
and  all  that  answer  “  I  ”  by  coming  into  His  church,  the 
army  of  the  Lord,  must  stand  for  the  church  in  all  its 
efforts  and  battles. 

Such  a  warfare  requires  great  spiritual  strength,  strong 
moral  courage  and  the  best  religious  training  and  equip¬ 
ment.  Wherefore,  Paul  says,  “  Be  strong  in  the  Lord, 


166 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


and  in  the  power  of  his  might.’’  A  mere  strength  of 
body  and  mind  will  not  avail.  There  must  be  strength 
of  soul,  and  that,  too,  “  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  strength 
of  his  might,” — that  strength  that  was  in  Paul  when  he 
wrote,  “  I  can  do  all  things  through  him  that  strengthen- 
eth  me.”  As  to  one’s  religious  training  and  equipment 
for  Christian  warfare,  Paul  adds,  “  Put  on  the  whole 
armour  of  God  that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  against  the 
wiles  of  the  devil.  *  *  *  Wherefore  take  up  the 

whole  armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  withstand  in 
the  evil  day,  and  having  done  all,  to  stand.  Stand,  there¬ 
fore.”  Paul’s  repeated  and  emphasized  command  “  to 
stand  ”  shows  that  steadfastness  is  the  most  important 
trait  in  a  Christian  soldier  as  it  is  in  all  soldiers.  That 
standing  or  staying  quality  which  enables  a  soldier  to 
stand  by  his  post  of  duty  at  all  hazards  is  the  first  essen¬ 
tial  in  a  good  soldier ;  and  all  soldiers  must  be  trained  and 
disciplined  to  this  end.  Hence  Paul’s  oft-repeated  com¬ 
mand,  “  Be  ye  steadfast,  immovable,”  in  every  letter  that 
he  wrote  to  Christians.  Unless  one  will  stand  by  the 
guns  he  is  worthless  as  a  soldier;  and  this  is  especially 
true  of  a  Christian  soldier.  It  takes  moral  courage  and 
spiritual  bravery  to  stand  out  “  against  the  wiles  of  the 
devil  ”  and  “  against  the  principalities,  against  the  powers, 
against  the  world-rulers  of  this  darkness,  against  the 
spiritual  hosts  in  heavenly  places.”  Often,  in  comparison 
with  such  array  of  powers  and  forces  of  the  devil,  the 
army  of  the  Lord  seems  small  and  weak ;  but  be  it  re¬ 
membered  that  “  God  and  one  more  ”  constitute  a  major¬ 
ity,  and  are  able  to  win  the  victory,  provided  that  one 
stands  loyally  by  his  post  of  duty.  “  Jehovah  the  Lord 
God  of  hosts  will  fight  for  you,”  is  just  as  true  of  God’s 
people  to-day  as  it  has  ever  been ;  and  He  has  never  lost 
a  battle,  when  his  people  stood  obediently  and  loyally  by 


BATTLE 


167 


Him.  That  Christian  soldiers  may  be  able  “  to  stand,” 
Paul  commands  all  “  to  put  on  the  whole  armour  of 
God.” 

The  Christian  armour,  the  religious  equipment  of  the 
Christian  soldier,  is,  therefore,  of  paramount  importance. 
Accordingly,  Paul  prescribes  and  describes  each  piece  by 
comparison  to  the  armour  of  the  Roman  soldier,  with 
which  all  were  familiar.  First  there  was  the  girdle  or 
belt  about  the  loins  to  give  the  soldier  strength,  agility 
and  confidence,  which,  Paul  says,  is  “  truth.”  Truth 
strengthens  and  enables  the  Christian  to  use  his  powers, 
and  thereby  gives  him  confidence  in  battle.  Without  this 
divine  truth  the  mightiest  are  helpless  in  their  fight  against 
error  and  evil ;  but  with  it  the  weak  are  mighty  to  the 
tearing  down  of  the  strongholds  of  the  adversary. 

Next,  there  was  the  breastplate, — a  heavy  metal  coat 
or  jacket  to  protect  the  body,  which,  for  the  Christian 
soldier,  is  “  righteousness.”  There  is  no  protection  for 
the  soul  so  impenetrable  as  true  righteousness.  It  re¬ 
pulses  the  attacks  of  the  enemy,  and  awes  them  into 
retreat.  Even  the  devil  fears  to  strike  a  righteous  man ; 
and,  even  if  he  does,  he  cannot  hurt  the  soul  that  is 
clothed  in  righteousness.  Christ’s  shield  of  righteousness 
often  protected  him  from  the  murderous  attacks  of  his 
enemies,  who  shrank  back  from  his  holy  presence.  The 
white  light  from  his  perfect  holiness  blinded  and  awed 
them  into  retreat  and  flight.  When  the  hired  murderer 
was  about  to  strike  Cato,  he  withdrew,  when  he  heard 
the  words  of  the  righteous  man,  “  Dost  thou  strike 
Cato  ?  ”  Everyone,  though  he  be  a  demon,  fears  to  strike 
the  righteous ;  and,  even  when  they  do  strike,  they  are 
unable  to  wound  the  soul. 

Next  were  the  sandals  or  shoes  for  the  feet,  which 
enabled  the  soldier  to  stand  and  advance  over  difficulties. 


168 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


This  in  the  Christian  is  “  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of 
peace.’'  Preparation  in  the  knowledge  and  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  enables  the  Christian  to  progress,  because 
the  gospel  is  the  good  news  that  brings  recruits  and  addi¬ 
tions  into  the  army  of  the  Lord,  and  thereby  strengthens 
and  advances  the  cause  of  the  right  against  the  wrong. 
For  this  reason  it  was  written,  “  How  beautiful  are  the 
feet  that  bring  glad  tidings  of  good  things !  ” 

Also,  there  was  the  shield,  a  large  metal  disk,  worn  on 
the  arm,  to  protect  any  part  of  the  body  in  danger,  which 
was  the  most  important  piece  of  the  defensive  weapons. 
This  is  “  faith,  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all 
the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one."  No  arrow,  however 
sharp  and  well  aimed,  can  strike  the  man  that  holds  “  the 
shield  of  faith;"  however,  without  faith  he  is' vulnerable 
at  all  points.  Every  soldier  must  believe  in  his  leader; 
and,  whenever  an  army  loses  faith  in  its  head,  it  is  lost. 
■Likewise  the  Christian  soldier  must  hold  a  believing  atti¬ 
tude  toward  God  and  Christ,  the  Captain  of  his  salvation ; 
otherwise  he  cannot  “  fight  the  good  fight  of  the  faith ;" 
but  will  be  lost  in  the  hostile  attacks  of  infidelity.  While 
Christian  faith  is  reasonable,  reason  cannot  take  the  place 
of  faith ;  and,  whenever  any  one  doffs  “  the  shield  of 
faith  "  for  the  shield  of  reason,  he  is  undone,  because  he 
has  “  the  cart  before  the  horse,"  or  rather  the  shield  at 
his  back  where  it  is  not  needed.  Reason  is  a  weapon  to 
be  used  behind  the  shield  of  faith ;  and,  when  thus  used, 
it  is  a  powerful  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  Christian 
soldier.  When  God  said,  “  Come  now,  let  us  reason  to¬ 
gether,"  He  did  not  mean  for  man  to  cast  aside  the  shield 
of  faith  for  reason;  but  He  invites  man  to  a  reasonable 
faith,  or  a  “  reasonable  service,"  which,  Paul  says,  is 
expected  of  every  Christian  soldier.  Rom.  12:1.  There 
is  no  antagonism  whatever  between  Christian  faith  and 


BATTLE 


169 


reason;  nor  nothing  about  either,  when  rightly  seen,  to 
prevent  the  Christian  soldier  from  using  both  together  in 
his  battle  for  God  against  Satan. 

Furthermore,  “  take  the  helmet  of  salvation,”  which 
was  a  metal  hat  or  covering  for  the  head,  and  bore  the 
emblem  or  ensign  of  the  cause  for  which  the  soldier 
fought.  This  in  Christian  warfare  is  “  salvation.”  No 
harm  can  come  to  the  saved;  and  the  salvation  of  the 
world  is  the  great  cause  for  which  the  Christian  soldier 
fights ;  and  this  salvation  he  wears  as  a  helmet  with  an 
ensign  for  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

Then,  “  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of 
God.”  This  is  the  only  offensive  weapon  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  soldier;  but  he  needs  no  other.  Christ  used  no 
other;  and  he  repulsed  every  attack  of  the  devil,  Mat. 
4:  1-11.  No  one  can  withstand  the  withering  strokes  of 
the  word  of  God  as  “  it  is  written.”  “  For  the  word  of 
God  is  living,  and  active,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword,  and  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  of  soul  and 
spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow,  and  quick  to  discern 
the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  hearts.”  With  silch  a 
weapon  skillfully  used  the  Christian  soldier  is  invin¬ 
cible. 

Lastly,  there  must  be  prayer  in  the  heart  and  upon  the 
lips  of  the  Christian  soldier, — “  with  all  prayer  and  sup¬ 
plication,  praying  at  all  seasons  in  the  Spirit.”  Soldiers 
in  carnal  warfare  usually  fight  with  curses  in  their  heart 
and  upon  their  lips;  but  Christian  soldiers  must  pray  as 
they  fight.  They  must  pray  not  only  for  the  cause  for 
which  they  fight,  but  for  their  comrades  in  battle, — “  on 
my  behalf,”  says  Paul.  It  is  said  that  God  had  to  remove 
Stonewall  Jackson,  before  the  Confederacy  could  be  de¬ 
feated,  because  he  prayed  before  and  as  he  fought;  and 
others  were  praying  for  him.  There  is  no  way  to  defeat 


170 


ALL  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


a  praying  soldier,  because  prayer  brings  him  into  touch 
with  the  power  of  God  that  breaks  down  all  opposition. 
Prayer  is  a  divine  electrical  power  that  fills,  permeates 
and  charges  the  army  of  God  with  the  very  power  of  God, 
which  is  invincible.  Christian  prayer  also  gives  confi¬ 
dence,  and  makes  one  bold.  The  Christian  soldier  must 
fight  and  speak  “  with  boldness,  as  I  ought  to  speak,”  says 
Paul. 

In  the  closing  words  of  Paul’s  letter,  which  are  of  a 
personal  nature,  there  is  a  recognition  and  declaration  of 
the  need  of  unity  in  the  army  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
“  But  that  ye  also  may  know  my  affairs,  how  I  do, 
Tychicus,  the  beloved  brother  and  faithful  minister  in  the 
Lord,  shall  make  known  to  you  all  things:  whom  I  have 
sent  unto  you  for  this  very  purpose,  that  ye'  may  know 
our  state,  that  he  may  comfort  you.”  Though  Paul  was 
far  away  and  in  prison,  nevertheless  he  felt  that  he  was 
still  a  part  of  the  Lord’s  fighting  forces  at  Ephesus,  and 
that  he  and  they  were  in  an  indissoluble  union  for  the 
cause  of  Christ ;  and  for  this  reason  they  ought  to  know 
about  each  other,  so  he  had  sent  Tychicus  as  a  personal 
connecting  link  between  the  two.  Thus  Paul  by  letters 
and  personal  messages  brought  the  church  in  his  day  into 
vital  touch  and  unity  with  all  Christian  forces  every¬ 
where,  and  thereby  kept  the  church  united.  This  unity, 
as  appears  from  all  his  letters,  was  close,  active  and  sym¬ 
pathetic;  and  through  such  a  unity  of  knowledge,  action 
and  sympathy  the  church  triumphed  over  the  forces  of 
evil. 

Accordingly,  the  great  need  in  the  church,  the  army 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to-day,  is  such  a  unity  as  existed 
in  the  Apostolic  church.  Centuries  ago  the  church 
divided  into  separate  camps,  and  has  been  fighting  ever 
since  in  separate  armies.  The  army  of  the  Lord  has  been 


BATTLE 


171 


divided  and  subdivided,  until  to-day  there  are  over  two 
hundred  separate  and  distinct  parts,  all  fighting  for  the 
same  cause,  when  they  are  not  engaged  in  fighting  each 
other.  Could  there  be  a  greater  farce  and  travesty  of 
a  great  cause?  No  wonder,  then,  that  the  church  has 
fought  a  losing  battle  against  the  forces  of  evil.  No 
army  can  be  victorious  when  divided  into  disjointed  parts, 
which  often  cancel  and  counteract  the  work  and  influence 
of  each  other.  This  was  shown  to  be  true  even  in  the 
late  world  war,  where  there  were  only  four  or  five  sepa¬ 
rate  armies  fighting  for  a  common  cause.  But,  when  they 
all  united  under  the  leadership  of  Gen.  Foch,  victory 
began  to  come  their  way;  and  soon  the  victory  was  com¬ 
plete.  It  seems  that  spiritual  soldiers  fighting  for  eternal 
things  ought  to  have  as  much  sense  and  love  for  their 
cause  as  carnal  soldiers  fighting  for  this  world  and  the 
things  thereof.  Are  “  the  sons  of  this  world  for  their 
own  generation  wiser  than  the  sons  of  light  ?  ”  It  must 
be  confessed  that  it  does  appear  so  in  many  cases ;  but 
surely  the  Christian  forces  will  soon  find  their  way  into 
a  united  army  of  their  common  Lord  and  Captain  of  their 
salvation.  God  hasten  the  day  when  it  shall  be  so. 


CONCLUSION 


XV 


VALEDICTORY  SUMMARY 


PEACE  be  to  the  brethren,  and  love  with  faith,  from  God 
the  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Grace  be  with 
all  them  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  a  love 
incorruptible.”  6 : 23-24. 

The  above  is  more  than  a  formal,  conventional  valedic¬ 
tory.  While  the  letter  conforms  to  the  conventionalities 
of  the  Apostolic  age,  yet  every  word  of  the  same  is 
fraught  with  meaning ;  and  no  part  of  the  letter  contains 
greater  significance  with  respect  to  Christian  unity  than 
the  close.  In  the  above  valedictory,  Paul  summarizes 
much  of  his  teaching  on  unity,  which  he  had  elaborated 
in  the  body  of  the  letter.  He  crowds  many  of  the  essen¬ 
tials  of  unity  into  these  brief  farewell  words,  as  if  he 
would  thereby  impress  and  indelibly  stamp  the  same  upon 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  all  Christians.  Every  significant 
word  and  phrase  reveal  an  essential  truth  of  Christian 
unity. 

First,  “  Peace  be  to  the  brethren.”  This  defines  what 
Christian  unity  is.  It  is  peace  among  brethren.  Not  a 
static,  stagnant  peace  that  is  born  of  indifference  and  in¬ 
dolence,  but  an  active  working  peace  that  fills  all  the 
days  and  hours  with  Christian  work  and  worship  such  as 
Paul  had  outlined  in  his  letter.  Such  a  peace  as  is  to  be 
found  in  the  busy  beehive,  where  all  the  members  of  the 
colony  work  together  in  peace  and  harmony  for  the  com¬ 
mon  cause.  While  the  church  is  the  army  of  the  Lord, 
and  is  set  for  the  defeat  and  overthrow  of  the  forces  of 
Satan,  there  must  be  no  fighting  within  its  own  ranks ;  it 

175 


176 


CONCLUSION 


must  be  at  peace  with  itself  that  it  may  win  the  victory 
over  the  enemy.  Whenever  peace  among  the  brethren 
is  lacking,  and  they  begin  to  fight  each  other,  as  has  often 
been  the  case,  the  cause  of  Satan  flourishes,  and  the 
church  of  Christ  is  put  to  open  shame  and  defeat  before 
the  world.  Accordingly,  Christ  prayed  that  his  disciples 
might  be  “  one/’  or  at  peace  with  each  other,  and  thereby 
unite  against  the  common  foe  and  for  the  common  cause. 
For  this  peace  to  be  effective  it  must  begin  with  the 
individual  member,  and  extend  throughout  the  whole 
church.  Each  member  must  be  at  peace  with  himself 
before  he  can  be  at  peace  with  his  brethren.  There  must 
be  that  inner  calm  of  the  soul  that  comes  from  the  adjust¬ 
ment  of  all  things  within  to  the  stress  of  all  things  with¬ 
out,  which  Christ  alone  can  give.  “  Peace  I  leave  with 
you ;  my  peace  I  give  unto  you ;  not  as  the  world  giveth, 
give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither 
let  it  be  fearful.”  When  this  peace  that  “  passeth  all  un¬ 
derstanding  ”  pervades  the  church ;  and  it  moves  forward 
to  do  the  will  of  God  on  earth,  this  is  the  ideal  of  Chris¬ 
tian  unity.  Wherefore,  Paul  prays  in  the  closing  of  his 
letter,  “  Peace  be  to  the  brethren.” 

Furthermore,  “  the  brethren  ”  defines  the  scope  of 
Christian  unity.  Christian  unity  was  not  intended  to 
include  the  whole  human  race  nor  all  religious  fraterni¬ 
ties  of  the  earth,  as  some  seem  to  think  and  teach,  but 
“  the  brethren  ”  only.  This  Christian  fraternity  is  set 
forth  under  many  appellatives  in  the  Scriptures,  such  as 
“  the  disciples,”  “  the  saints,”  “  the  children  of  God,” 
“  the  household  of  the  faith,”  “  an  elect  race,  a  royal 
priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  people  for  God’s  own  posses¬ 
sion,”  etc.  Any  plan  for  unity  that  transcends  or  falls 
short  of  the  scope  of  these  appellatives  of  the  church  of 
Christ  is,  therefore,  fundamentally  wrong.  One  of  the 


VALEDICTORY  SUMMARY 


17T 


great  difficulties  of  Christian  unity  is  to  stay  within  the 
proper  bounds  of  these  words.  Some  liberalists  are  dis¬ 
posed  to  go  beyond  and  include  more  than  these  terms 
admit;  and  other  narrow  sectarians  are  inclined  to  draw 
the  lines  of  demarkation  far  within  these  boundaries  of 
Christian  brotherhood.  “  The  brethren,”  no  less,  no  more, 
were  those  that  Paul  sought  to  unite. 

“  Love  with  faith,”  or,  as  Paul  states  the  same  in  his 
letter  to  the  Galatians,  “  faith  working  through  love,”  is 
the  great  essential  of  Christian  unity.  These  two  words, 
“  faith  and  love,”  carry  us  back  to  the  beginning  of  this 
study,  where  it  was  shown  that  love  is  the  great  essen¬ 
tial  motive-power  that  makes  Christian  unity  possible  and 
that  faith  is  the  divine  sight  and  reasonable  intelligence 
that  makes  it  practicable.  See  Chapters  II  and  III  of 
Introduction.  Love  gives  the  hope,  the  vision ;  and  faith 
leads  the  way  to  a  practical  realization  of  the  same.  Love 
and  faith,  working  thus  together,  can  do  anything,  or  at 
least  can  accomplish  any  task  that  Christ  assigned  his 
disciples,  even  their  unity.  Love  and  faith  are  the  two 
great  sine  qua  nons  of  Christian  unity,  wherefore  Paul 
puts  them  in  the  last  words  of  his  letter  for  the  unity  of 
the  church,  praying  that  “  love  with  faith  ”  may  be  in  all 
the  brethren. 

“  From  God  the  Father,” — God  the  Father  is  the 
spiritual  foundation  of  Christian  unity.  The  universal 
fatherhood  of  God,  from  which  the  universal  brotherhood 
of  man  is  a  logical  deduction,  is  the  great  fundamental 
truth  underlying  Christian  unity.  Christ  continually  em¬ 
phasized  this  truth  as  the  foundation  of  his  religion ; 
and  Paul  built  upon  the  same  in  establishing  the  church 
and  outlining  the  principles  for  the  unity  of  the  same. 
As  long  as  “  God  the  Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  all,  from  whom  every  family  in  heaven 


178 


CONCLUSION 


and  earth  is  named,”  is  kept  in  mind,  the  church,  the 
family  of  God,  cannot  disintegrate  and  separate  into  war¬ 
ring  factions;  but  all  will  be  drawn  together  around  the 
common  Father,  who  loves  all  His  children  alike,  and 
desires  that  all  unite  for  the  welfare  and  upbuilding  of 
the  divine  family  on  earth. 

“  And  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,”— the  Lordship  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  another  great  fundamental  truth  of  Christianity 
that  must  be  accepted  and  conformed  to  in  order  to  have 
Christian  unity.  Any  unity  that  is  not  centered  in  Jesus 
Christ  cannot  be  Christian  unity.  Christian  unity  is 
Christo-centric  in  authority,  in  substance,  in  name,  in 
form,  in  purpose,  in  scope,  and  in  every  other  essential 
respect.  In  fact,  the  acknowledging  and  conforming  to 
the  Lordship  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  way  to  make  any¬ 
thing  Christian.  The  Lordship  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only 
authoritative  seal  and  stamp  that  proves  a  thing  to  be 
truly  Christian.  Without  this  nothing  could  be  Christian; 
Christian  unity  would  be  an  empty,  meaningless  impos¬ 
sibility;  but  to  all  those  that  accept  and  conform  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  everything  is  Christian;  and  Christian 
unity  is  an  easy,  practicable  step,  because  by  following 
Him  we  come  into  unity.  The  Apostle  Paul  in  all  his 
preaching  and  writing  never  lost  sight  of  this  guiding 
star,  “  the  day-star  from  on  high,”  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who,  according  to  the  first  Christian  prophet,  “  shall  visit 
us,  to  shine  upon  them  that  sit  in  darkness  and  the 
shadow  of  death;  to  guide  our  feet  into  the  way  of 
peace.”  He  is  the  only  way  of  peace  and  unity  for  the 
divided  warring  sons  and  daughters  of  men. 

Finally,  “  All  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  a 
love  incorruptible.”  It  is  only  by  loving  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  can  unity  be  realized.  No  perfunctory  theoretical 
acceptance  of  the  Lordship  of  Jesus  Christ  will  suffice  for 


VALEDICTORY  SUMMARY 


179 


Christian  unity ;  but  only  a  loving,  loyal  and  obedient  ac¬ 
ceptance  and  performance  of  his  will  can  unite  the  fol¬ 
lowers  of  Christ.  Paul  did  not  attempt  to  unite  those  that 
merely  accepted  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  only  those  that 
loved  him,  and  that,  too,  “  with  a  love  incorruptible,’ ’ — 
a  perfectly  sincere  love.  No  pretended,  hypocritical  love 
for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  stand  the  strain  and  stress 
of  maintaining  the  unity  of  the  brotherhood  in  Christ. 
So,  then,  Christian  unity  resolves  itself  finally  into  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  getting  all  to  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  supremely 
and  sincerely ;  and,  when  this  is  done,  Christian  unity  will 
come  of  itself.  Upon  all  those  that  are  striving  to  this 
end  Paul  prays  the  grace  of  God  in  these  closing  words 
of  his  letter,  “  Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  with  a  love  incorruptible.” 

In  closing  his  letter  with  a  prayer  Paul  indicates  the 
place  and  importance  of  prayer  in  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  Christian  unity.  It  is,  as  he  shows  in  the 
third  chapter  of  his  letter,  the  great  dynamic  that  can 
bring  Christian  unity  to  pass.  “  For  this  cause  I  bow 
my  knees  unto  the  Father,”  he  says ;  and,  when  all  Chris¬ 
tians  do  the  same,  Christian  unity  will  come. 


XVI 


CHRIST’S  GLORIOUS  CHURCH 


CHRIST  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  up  for 
it;  that  he  might  sanctify  it,  having  cleansed  it  by  the 
washing  of  water  with  the  word,  that  he  might  present 
the  church  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot 
or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing;  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish.”  5:25-27. 

The  above  reveals  Christ’s  estimate  of  the  church. 
Paul  began  his  letter  by  giving  God’s  estimate  of  the 
same,  showing  that  He  planned  it  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  making  everything  else  secondary  and  con¬ 
tributory  to  it;  and  in  the  fulness  of  time  He  sent  His 
own  Son  into  the  world  to  establish  it.  Christ  so  loved 
the  church  that  he  made  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  it,  that 
the  church  might  be  what  it  was  planned  to  be,  “  a  sanc¬ 
tified,  cleansed,  holy  church  without  spot  or  blemish  or 
any  such  thing,” — a  perfect  church,  a  glorious  church. 

This  is  Paul’s  ideal  for  the  church.  This  high  ideal 
has  not  yet  been  realized  in  its  full  glory.  There  are  yet 
many  ugly  marring  spots  and  blemishes  on  the  church 
to-day  that  must  be  removed  before  the  church  can  come 
into  her  full  glory.  The  worst  spot  and  blemish  of  all  is 
division, — a  damaging  blot  that  mars  the  beauty  and  dis¬ 
sipates  the  strength  of  the  church.  Paul  foresaw  the 
coming  of  this  blot,  and  wrote  this  letter  that  we  might 
be  prepared  to  deal  with  it  and  finally  to  remove  it.  We 
have  studied  the  letter  with  this  end  in  view ;  and  we  have 
found  it  to  be  a  complete  treatment  and  solution  of  the 
problem.  In  the  first  half  of  the  letter  Paul  outlines  the 

church,  showing  it  to  be  The  Church  For  All  with  every 

180 


CHRIST’S  GLORIOUS  CHURCH 


181 


provision  to  make  it  such ;  and  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
letter  he  teaches  that  All  Must  Be  For  The  Church,  giv¬ 
ing  therein  the  essentials  of  church  membership,  namely, 
character,  doctrine,  service ,  conduct  and  battle,  which 
constitute  the  essential  realms  of  Christian  unity.  In  this 
expository  revelation  of  The  Church  For  All  and  All  For 
The  Church,  as  set  forth  by  the  Apostle  Paul  and  analyzed 
and  studied  by  us  under  these  two  heads,  we  have  Paul’s 
ideal  for  the  church,  which  is  a  high  ideal,  in  fact,  a  per¬ 
fect  church,  a  glorious  church.  Although  the  church  has 
never  realized  this  high  ideal,  and  is  still  to-day  far  from 
it  with  many  imperfections  to  be  remedied  and  elimi¬ 
nated  ;  yet  in  spite  of  these  spots  and  blemishes  the  church 
is,  and  has  always  been,  a  glorious  church. 

In  the  first  place,  the  church  of  Christ  is  glorious  in 
character.  It  is  divine  in  character.  God  planned  it,  and 
Jesus  Christ  built  it;  and  it  is,  therefore,  as  far  above 
every  other  institution  in  the  world  as  the  works  of  God 
are  above  the  works  of  man.  While  it  has  not  always 
maintained  its  divine  character,  but  has  risen  and  fallen 
with  the  civilization  of  the  age;  yet  it  has  always  stood 
out  above  and  beyond  every  contemporary  institution  in 
character.  In  fact,  it  is  the  only  institution  that  makes  a 
community  fit  to  live  in.  Wherever  it  has  been  planted, 
it  has  raised  the  standards  of  character  and  living  of  all 
those  that  came  in  touch  with  it.  It  has  always  stood  for 
the  right  against  the  wrong,  for  the  true  against  the  false, 
for  the  elevating  against  the  degrading;  in  fact,  for  every¬ 
thing  that  is  for  the  welfare  of  the  human  race  against 
everything  that  drags  it  down. 

Next,  it  is  glorious  in  personnel.  In  the  first  place,  it 
has  a  glorious  head,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God.  No  institution  can  be  more  glorious  than  its 
head,  because  the  head  of  an  institution  is  either  the  glory 


182 


CONCLUSION 


or  shame  thereof.  Did  any  institution  ever  have  a  more 
glorious  head?  To  begin  with,  He  had  all  the  glory  and 
equality  with  God  the  Father,  of  which  He  emptied  Him¬ 
self,  and  came  to  earth  to  serve,  suffer  and  die  that  He 
might  achieve  higher  glory.  “  Wherefore  God  highly 
exalted  him,  and  gave  him  a  name  that  is  above  every 
name;  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow 
*  *  *  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that 

Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.” 
Accordingly,  when  Christ  had  finished  his  work  of  re¬ 
demption,  he  prayed  the  Father,  saying,  “  Father,  the 
hour  is  come ;  glorify  thy  Son,  that  the  Son  may  glorify 
thee.  *  *  *  I  glorified  thee  on  the  earth,  having 

accomplished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do.  And 
now,  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with 
the  glory  that  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was.”  As 
he  ascended  and  returned  to  the  right  hand  of  God  in  all 
His  glory,  a  voice  sounded  out  over  the  battlements  of 
heaven,  saying,  “Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates;  and 
be  ye  lifted  up  ye  everlasting  doors ;  and  the  King  of 
glory  will  come.”  This  King  of  glory  is  the  head  of  the 
church;  and  a  church  with  such  a  glorious  head  must  be 
glorious  itself,  because  the  body  shares  the  glory  of  the 
head. 

The  church  has  not  only  a  glorious  head  but  also  a  glo^ 
rious  body.  The  personnel  of  the  membership  of  the 
church  has  always  been  the  best  people  of  every  age  and 
every  community.  While  the  members  of  the  church  in 
every  age  have  been  fallible  human  beings,  with  many 
weaknesses  and  imperfections,  yet  they  have  stood  out 
in  life  and  character  far  above  the  rest  of  the  people  of 
that  age.  In  fact,  the  greatest  lives  and  characters  that 
adorn  the  pages  of  history  have  been  members  of  the 
church,  whose  greatness  was  attributed  largely  to  the  in- 


CHRIST’S  GLORIOUS  CHURCH 


183 


fluence  of  the  church.  Who  stands  higher  in  the  history 
and  the  affections  of  the  world  than  Peter,  John  and  Paul, 
Chrysostom,  Constantine  the  Great,  St.  Augustine,  Peter 
the  Great,  Luther,  Knox,  Calvin,  Campbell,  Gladstone, 
Lloyd-George,  Wilson,  etc.  ?  What  is  true  of  the  past  is 
also  true  of  the  present.  Compare  the  membership  of  the 
church  as  a  whole  with  those  that  are  not  members  in  any 
community ;  and  it  will  be  found  to  contain  the  best  of 
every  community.  While  there  are  always  some  in  the 
church  that  are  a  reproach  to  the  church,  yet  the  per¬ 
sonnel  of  the  church  as  a  body  is  always  the  best  that  the 
community  affords ;  and  the  church  makes  them  better. 
In  fact,  the  church  appeals  only  to  the  best  people,  and 
seeks  the  worst  only  to  make  them  better.  Wherefore 
it  is  a  glorious  institution. 

Furthermore,  the  church  is  glorious  in  mission.  No 
institution  ever  had  a  higher  and  greater  mission.  It  is 
world-wide  in  scope,  and  reaches  from  earth  to  heaven. 
It  includes  the  regeneration,  the  elevation  and  redemp¬ 
tion  of  the  whole  human  race,  and  has  to  do  not  only 
with  this  world  but  also  the  world  to  come.  It  is  set  for 
the  overthrow  and  defeat  of  all  the  forces  of  evil  in  the 
world  and  for  the  leadership  of  all  the  forces  of  good. 
It  opposes  all  wrong,  and  espouses  all  good.  It  is  to 
make  men  good,  wise,  clean,  just,  merciful,  faithful,  noble, 
loving,  tender-hearted,  happy,  righteous,  holy,  patient, 
long-suffering,  kind,  meek,  true,  honourable,  pure,  strong, 
manly,  energetic,  in  fact,  all  that  Christian  manhood 
stands  for  and  is.  It  is  sent  to  “  seek  and  save  that  which 
is  lost,” — the  outcasts  of  society,  the  human  wrecks  and 
prodigals  of  earth,  and  to  restore  them  to  decency,  use¬ 
fulness  and  happiness.  Its  mission  is  to  serve  and  save 
every  creature  in  all  the  world,  from  the  urchin  in  the 
street  to  the  king  on  the  throne,  from  the  man  in  the  gut- 


184 


CONCLUSION 


ter  to  the  priest  in  the  temple,  from  the  man  with  a  hoe 
and  chain  to  the  man  with  a  book  and  microscope.  A 
church  with  such  a  glorious  mission  cannot  die,  but  must 
go  on  through  service  to  glory. 

Also,  the  church  is  glorious  in  achievement.  After  all 
it  is  achievement  that  makes  it  glorious.  It  matters  not 
how  glorious  the  mission  may  be,  unless  the  church 
actually  does  things,  it  is  due  no  glory.  It  is  work  accom¬ 
plished  that  glorifies.  Christ  recognized  this  in  his  prayer 
for  glory.  “  Father,  I  glorified  thee  in  the  earth,  hav¬ 
ing  accomplished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do. 
And  now,  Father,  glorify  thou  me.”  In  no  other  way 
can  glory  rightfully  come  to  one ;  and  the  church  must  be 
glorified  in  the  same  way.  The  work  and  achievements 
of  the  church  in  the  past  are  its  crown  of  glory  to-day. 
History  is  full  of  the  good  that  it  has  done;  and  its 
achievements  in  behalf  of  humanity  have  been  great.  In 
fact,  every  good  thing  that  has  blessed  the  race  for  the 
past  two  thousand  years  has  come  either  directly  or  indi¬ 
rectly  from  or  through  the  church.  Education,  culture, 
and  civilization,  with  all  its  conveniences,  comforts  and 
luxuries,  have  followed  in  the  path  of  the  church.  Man 
has  often  prostituted  these  blessings;  but  they  are  none¬ 
theless  a  boon  of  the  church.  The  present  also  reveals  the 
great  good  and  wonderful  achievements  of  the  church. 
You  have  but  to  compare  the  country  and  community  that 
has  not  the  church  with  those  that  have  it  to  see  the 
great  good  that  it  is  achieving  to-day  in  the  lives  of  men 
and  nations.  Every  good  work  accomplished  and  every 
blessing  achieved  is  an  added  jewel  in  her  crown  of  glory, 
which  it  has  won  by  its  achievements  in  the  past. 

Finally,  the  church  is  glorious  in  destiny.  “  Things 
that  eye  saw  not,  and  ear  heard  not,  and  which  entered 
not  into  the  heart  of  man,  whatsoever  things  God  pre- 


CHRIST’S  GLORIOUS  CHURCH 


185 


pared  for  those  that  love  Him.”  God’s  plans  and  pur¬ 
poses  for  the  church  were  made  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world  on  the  one  hand,  and  extend  unto  the  farthest 
limits  of  eternity  on  the  other ;  and  everything  in  time  and 
on  the  earth  has  been  and  is  for  the  working  out  and 
perfecting  of  these  plans  and  purposes.  As  the  race  was 
prepared  for  the  revelation  and  appreciation  of  these 
things,  “  God  revealed  them  through  the  Spirit.” 
The  New  Testament  is  the  fullest  revelation  that 
has  so  far  been  given ;  but  this  contains  only  a 
meagre  revelation  of  the  golden  glories  that  God 
has  prepared  for  the  church  in  the  great  beyond. 
John,  in  the  closing  chapters  of  the  Apocalypse, 
raises  the  curtain  on  a  few  of  these  glories,  which  God 
has  in  store  for  His  church.  The  first  scene  portrays  the 
return  of  the  Bridegroom,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  re¬ 
ceive  His  Bride,  the  Church ;  and,  after  the  honeymoon 
of  a  thousand  years  on  the  earth,  the  new  heaven  and  the 
new  earth  and  the  New  Jerusalem,  the  eternal  home  of 
the  Bride,  are  revealed.  The  imagination  in  its  wildest 
flights  is  unable  to  grasp  the  beauty,  splendour  and  gran¬ 
deur  of  the  place.  And  then  Paradise  Regained  is  un¬ 
folded  before  our  dazed,  wondering  eyes ;  and  we  are  lost 
amid  the  glories  of  this  Paradise  of  God.  This  is  the 
glorious  destiny  of  the  church. 

Truly,  the  church  of  Christ  is  a  glorious  church, — glo¬ 
rious  in  character,  in  personnel,  in  mission,  in  achieve¬ 
ment,  in  destiny  and  in  every  other  respect  that  makes 
glorious,  but  not  so  glorious  as  it  should  be,  it  must  be 
confessed.  The  glory  of  the  church  has  been  dimmed  by 
the  human  blots  and  blemishes  that  mar  its  beauty  and 
usefulness,  the  most  damaging  one  of  which  is  division. 
Division  puts  the  church  in  a  bad  light  before  the  world, 
and  thereby  injures  its  character;  it  also  brings  reproach 


186 


CONCLUSION 


upon  the  personnel  of  the  church  by  contradicting  the 
claim  of  one  head,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  one  body, 
the  church;  furthermore,  it  distracts  the  attention,  and 
dissipates  the  forces  of  the  church  from  its  divine  mis¬ 
sion,  and  produces  civil  warfare  instead ;  also  it  cripples 
and  hinders  the  achievements  of  the  church,  and  clouds 
its  glorious  destiny.  There  is  no  spot  nor  blemish  on  the 
church  that  robs  the  church  of  so  much  power  and  glory. 
What  a  glorious  church  the  church  of  Christ  would  be  if 
only  it  were  united !  Its  character  would  thereby  be 
greatly  ennobled;  its  personnel  would  be  honoured;  its 
mission  would  be  accomplished;  its  achievements  would 
be  greatly  increased;  and  its  destiny  would  be  clear  and 
shining.  As  a  result,  the  church  would  radiate  glory  on 
all  sides,  until  the  earth  would  be  full  of  glory,  as  the 
waters  that  cover  the  sea,  and  the  millennium  would  be 
ushered  in.  Then  the  church  would  realize  its  divine 
ideal,  “  a  sanctified,  cleansed,  holy  church  without  spot 
or  blemish  or  any  such  thing,  a  glorious  church,”  a  per¬ 
fect  church.  That  we  might  be  able  to  remove  this  dam¬ 
aging,  hindering  blot  of  division,  Paul  wrote  the  Ephe¬ 
sian  letter,  which  we  have  studied  with  this  end  in  view. 
We  commend  this  letter  to  the  reader  and  to  the  church 
as  a  whole  as  the  only  solution  of  the  problem.  The  ob¬ 
jective  of  this  book  has  been  to  bring  out  Paul’s  teaching 
therein  on  the  unity  of  the  church  and  apply  the  same  to 
the  problem  of  unity  to-day;  and,  if  any  comment  of  the 
author  obscures  the  same,  or  seems  to  be  in  error,  let  this 
be  overlooked  and  forgotten ;  but  let  what  Paul  has  writ¬ 
ten  and  taught  on  the  subject  be  remembered  and  heeded, 
which  is  the  key  to  the  solution  of  the  problem. 


XVII 


LIBERTY  AND  UNITY 

THE  question  of  liberty  naturally  arises,  whenever 
unity  is  proposed,  because  the  two  are  somewhat 
antagonistic,  and  must  be  harmonized,  before 
there  can  be  any  real  unity.  To  have  unity  and  at  the 
same  time  preserve  liberty,  or  vice  versa,  is  a  troublesome 
question  that  often  stands  in  the  way  of  unity.  It  is 
rather  surprising,  when  we  first  think  of  it,  that  Paul,  in 
his  letter  to  the  Ephesians,  treating  so  fully  the  subject 
of  Christian  unity,  says  nothing  about  Christian  liberty. 
The  reason  for  this  is,  Paul  in  this  letter  sets  forth  the 
essentials  of  unity,  with  respect  to  which  there  is  no  lib¬ 
erty.  Liberty  has  to  do  with  the  non-essentials,  which 
constitute  the  realm  of  Christian  liberty,  which  is  fully 
treated  by  Paul  in  his  letters  to  the  Corinthians  and  Ga¬ 
latians.  In  these  letters  Paul  endeavours  to  define  the 
scope  and  application  of  Christian  liberty  so  as  to  insure 
unity ;  and  the  connecting  link  between  the  two  is  loyalty. 
Liberty,  loyalty  and  unity  constitute  the  Scriptural  trinity 
of  the  New  Testament  Church.  Christian  loyalty,  of 
course,  has  to  do  with  the  essentials  of  Christianity, 
which  are  fully  treated  by  Paul  in  his  letter  to  the  Ephe¬ 
sians,  as  we  have  seen  in  this  exposition  of  the  same. 
In  view  of  the  fact  of  the  vital  bearing  of  liberty  on 
unity,  it  is  deemed  wise  to  add  a  chapter  in  conclusion  of 
this  study  (on  Christian  liberty)  which  can  not  be  passed 
unnoticed  in  any  full  treatment  of  Christian  unity. 

Liberty,  loyalty  and  unity  constitute  the  Scriptural  trin- 

187 


188 


CONCLUSION 


ity  of  the  New  Testament  church,  which  must  be  kept 
in  mind  together,  and  preserved  in  all  Christian  work 
and  worship ;  otherwise  their  Scriptural  use  and  meaning 
will  be  missed.  Christian  unity  can  not  be  without  the 
broadest  liberty  that  loyalty  will  permit ;  nor  is  any  one 
of  the  three  truly  Christian  without  the  others.  The 
Catholic  church  has  unity  without  liberty ;  and  the  Prot¬ 
estant  church  has  liberty  without  unity;  but  the  Apos¬ 
tolic  church  had  unity  with  liberty,  which  was  realized 
and  maintained  through  loyalty.  However,  when  these 
three  become  separated,  and  it  is  necessary  to  choose  be¬ 
tween  the  three,  loyalty  must  be  placed  before  liberty  and 
unity.  Luther  was  offered  unity  without  liberty  at  the 
sacrifice  of  loyalty ;  and  he  answered  by  nailing  up  his 
thesis  and  burning  the  Papal  decree  at  the  gates  of  Wit¬ 
tenberg,  thereby  laying  the  foundation  for  his  great 
Reformation  upon  loyalty  and  liberty ;  however,  in  so 
doing,  liberty  was  over-emphasized  and  unity  was  lost. 
The  over-emphasis  of  liberty  soon  led  to  divisions,  which 
have  continued  to  multiply  from  that  day  to  this.  Luther 
solved  the  problem  of  loyalty  and  liberty ;  but  he  was 
unable  to  solve  the  problem  of  unity,  which  has  come 
down  to  us  as  an  unsolved  problem.  We  have  considered 
the  bearing  of  Christian  loyalty  upon  Christian  unity,  as 
set  forth  by  Paul  in  his  letter  to  the  Ephesians ;  and  we 
now  propose  in  this  chapter  a  study  of  Christian  liberty 
in  its  bearing  upon  the  same. 

Liberty  is  one  of  the  most  significant  words  in  the 
vocabulary  of  men.  It  stands  for  that  freedom  of  body, 
mind  and  soul  that  is  dearer  than  life  to  all  who  know 
its  meaning  and  value.  It  has  been  the  watchword  and 
battle-cry  of  many  wars  with  tongue  and  sword;  and 
there  has  been  enough  bloodshed  in  the  cause  of  liberty 
to  incarnadine  the  streams  of  earth.  This  crimson  stream 


LIBERTY  AND  UNITY 


189 


runs  through  ancient  history  to  the  foot  of  the  Cross, 
where  Jesus  Christ  poured  out  his  blood  that  men  might 
be  free,  and  thence  on  down  the  stream  of  the  ages, 
bringing  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  the  race.  This  pre¬ 
cious  heritage  comes  to  us  stained  with  the  blood  of  all 
the  heroes,  martyrs  and  saviours  of  earth,  and  is,  there¬ 
fore,  the  priceless  gift  of  the  ages  to  the  world  of  free 
men  to-day.  It  must  be  preserved  at  all  hazards ;  and  a 
way  to  unity  that  does  not  sacrifice  it  must  be  found. 

Christ  made  the  greatest  contribution  to  the  cause  of 
human  liberty.  We  are  largely  indebted  to  Him  for  our 
freedom  of  body,  mind  and  soul ;  and  for  this  reason  the 
name  of  Christ  has  been  prefixed  to  the  word,  thus, 
Christian  liberty.  “  Christian,”  in  this  connection,  is  not 
a  narrowing  limiting  adjective,  but  a  defining  and  enlarg¬ 
ing  one.  It  stands  for  all  that  Christ  has  contributed  to 
the  cause  of  liberty,  which  is  so  much  that  the  word  has 
acquired  a  greatly  enlarged,  if  not  a  new  meaning  and 
value.  Christ,  as  He  promised,  has  made  men  and 
women  “  free  indeed,”  and,  for  this  reason  every  phase 
of  liberty  to-day  bears  the  Christian  stamp,  and  must  be 
studied  in  the  light  of  Christian  teaching.  Christ  gave 
the  fundamental  principles  that  underlie  all  freedom ;  and 
a  study  and  application  of  these  principles  is  necessary  to 
the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  any  true  liberty. 

In  the  first  place,  Christ  taught  what  liberty  is,  and 
how  it  may  be  acquired.  He  made  it  clear  that  liberty 
is  not  license  but  freedom  within  law.  It  does  not  mean 
the  throwing  off  and  disregard  of  all  law,  but  rather  a 
state  of  freedom  that  is  the  result  of  conformity  to  law. 
“  If  ye  abide  in  my  word  (by  obeying  the  same),  then  are 
ye  truly  my  disciples;  and  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and 
the  truth  shall  make  you  free.”  David  expressed  the 
same  truth  thus,  “  I  will  walk  at  liberty,  for  I  will  seek 


190 


CONCLUSION 


thy  precepts;”  and  James  speaks  of  the  gospel  as  “the 
law  of  liberty,”  because  by  obedience  to  the  same  one 
is  made  free.  Liberty  through  the  knowledge  and  obedi¬ 
ence  to  truth  is,  therefore,  Christian  liberty.  In  fact,  all 
true  liberty  is  a  state  of  freedom  that  results  from  the 
knowledge  of  and  obedience  to  the  laws  of  being  that 
form  and  regulate  life.  This  is  true  in  every  realm  and 
department  of  life, — -in  the  material,  social,  intellectual 
and  religious.  Anyone,  therefore,  that  would  be  free  in 
God’s  world  must  conform  to  the  laws  of  the  same ;  other¬ 
wise  he  is  under  the  condemnation  and  slavery  that  comes 
to  all  lawbreakers. 

Christ  not  only  taught  this  ;  but  His  whole  life  was  lived 
in  conformity  to  the  same.  In  all  things  He  recognized 
God  as  the  supreme  Lawgiver  of  heaven  and  earth ;  and 
He  endeavoured  to  do  His  will.  He  was  under  authority 
of  high  heaven,  and  obeyed  the  law  of  both  heaven  and 
earth  to  the  last  jot  and  tittle,  and  was,  therefore,  free. 
He  walked  upon  the  earth  as  a  free  man ;  and  everything 
that  He  did  and  said  was  by  the  choice  and  will  of  a  free 
man,  unafraid  and  untrammeled  by  the  traditions  and 
standards  of  the  age,  in  which  He  lived ;  and  this,  too,  in 
spite  of  those  in  authority,  who  hated  Him,  and  sought 
His  enslavement  by  every  known  plot  and  trap;  yet  He 
lived  and  worked  in  their  midst  free  and  unmolested. 
Often  they  went  to  arrest  Him ;  but  they  feared  to  take 
Him,  because  they  found  no  broken  law  or  fault  in  Him. 
Thus,  through  obedience  to  both  the  law  of  God  and  man, 
He  lived  a  life  of  absolute  freedom  in  the  midst  of  a  peo¬ 
ple  that  were  politically,  socially,  intellectually  and  relig¬ 
iously  enslaved ;  and  in  the  end  He  died  that  all  might  be 
likewise  free.  The  wonder  and  glory  of  His  life  was  its 
absolute  freedom;  and  the  marvel  of  His  death  was  its 
power  and  influence  in  bringing  freedom  to  all  that  are 


LIBERTY  AND  UNITY 


191 


in  bondage  of  any  kind ;  and  this  liberty  in  life  and  death 
was  no  miraculous  gift  from  above,  but  a  natural  achieve¬ 
ment  through  obedience  to  law,  which  is  the  only  way 
that  men  and  women  can  be  “  free  indeed.” 

Another  fundamental  principle  underlying  the  freedom 
of  Christ’s  life  was  His  Spirit,  as  stated  by  Paul  thus, 
“  Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty,”  which 
is  the  supplementary  truth  to  the  above.  Freedom  does 
not  come  through  mere  obedience  to  law ;  there  must  also 
be  the  prop9f  spirit  manifested  in  this  obedience.  The 
spirit  of  Christ’s  obedience  was  that  of  deep  humility  and 
willing  submission  to  all  the  laws  of  His  being;  and,  where 
this  spirit  is,  there  is  liberty.  Furthermore,  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is  the  enlightening  agent  in  revealing  the  true 
laws  of  life.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  sent  to  the 
apostles  to  make  known  to  them  the  truth  or  will  of  God, 
which  makes  men  free;  and  where  this  Spirit  is  there  is 
liberty.  “Ye  shall  know  the  truth ;  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free.”  Christian  liberty  is,  therefore,  freedom 
that  comes  through  the  knowledge  of  and  obedience  to 
Christian  truth,  which  is  revealed  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord. 

There  is,  therefore,  no  liberty  to  do  or  not  to  do  the 
things  prescribed  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  Paul  was 
the  spokesman  of  the  Spirit  on  matters  pertaining  to 
Christian  liberty ;  but  he  never  granted  the  liberty  to  do 
or  not  to  do  what  Christ  commanded.  He  insisted  on 
the  liberty  of  doing  or  not  doing  what  Moses  com¬ 
manded,  as,  for  instance,  circumcision  and  all  other  re¬ 
quirements  of  the  Jewish  law,  saying,  “  For  freedom  did 
Christ  set  us  free ;  stand  fast,  therefore,  and  be  not  en¬ 
tangled  again  in  a  yoke  of  bondage ;”  but  what  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  prescribed  through  the  Spirit  must  be 
obeyed;  and  only  by  obedience  thereunto  is  freedom  se- 


192 


CONCLUSION 


cured.  “  His  commands  are  not  grievous  ”  but  “  reason¬ 
able, n  and  insure  liberty  of  the  highest  type.  They  con¬ 
stitute  the  essentials  of  Christian  unity,  and  define  the 
requirements  of  Christian  loyalty,  which  consists  of  strict 
obedience  and  faithful  conformity  to  what  Christ  re¬ 
quires.  Through  such  loyalty  liberty  is  gained,  and  unity 
is  secured,  because  Christian  loyalty  requires  the  same 
things  of  all;  and  the  two  are  thereby  connected  and 
harmonized. 

Anyone,  therefore,  that  claims  any  release  from  the  re¬ 
quirements  of  Christ,  as  revealed  by  the  Spirit  in  the 
Christian  Scriptures,  does  not  know  the  meaning  of 
Christian  liberty  nor  the  way  to  Christian  unity. 

The  only  release  from  the  Christian  Scriptures,  “  the 

law  of  liberty,”  is  by  obedience  to  the  same;  and 
only  by  perfect  obedience,  if  such  were  possible, 

can  we  reach  a  state  “  without  law,  where  we  are 

a  law  unto  ourselves.”  As  great  a  teacher  and  preacher 
as  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  however,  claimed  release  from 
the  ordinances  of  Christ.  In  a  sermon  on  Christian  lib¬ 
erty,  he  said,  “  I  do  not  believe  that  any  ordinance  is 
authoritative.  If  I  should  form  a  sect,  it  would  be  a 
sect  that  exercises  liberty  in  the  matter  of  ordinances.” 
Of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  he  says  it  may  be  observed  or  not, 
just  as  the  worshipper  sees  fit;  and  of  baptism  he  says, 
“  It  is  nothing  in  and  of  itself,  whether  it  be  immersion 
or  sprinkling.”  But  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  as  revealed 
in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  grants  no  such  liberty; 
but  on  the  contrary  the  Spirit  says,  “  A  prophet  shall  the 
Lord  God  raise  up  unto  you  from  among  your  brethren, 
like  unto  Moses ;  to  him  shall  ye  hearken  in  all  things 
whatsoever  he  shall  speak  unto  you.  And  it  shall  be  that 
every  soul  that  shall  not  hearken  to  that  prophet  shall  be 
utterly  destroyed  from  among  the  people.”  Christian 


LIBERTY  AND  UNITY 


193 


liberty  is,  therefore,  a  dangerous  privilege,  unless  it  is 
properly  understood  and  applied.  Paul  never  spoke  of 
it  without  warning  against  its  abuse.  “  For  ye,  brethren, 
were  called  for  freedom ;  only  use  not  your  freedom  for 
an  occasion  to  the  flesh ;  but  through  love  be  servants  one 
to  another  ” ;  and  Peter  also  says,  “As  free,  not  using  your 
freedom  as  a  cloak  of  wickedness,  but  as  bondservants 
of  God.”  Both  emphasize  the  fact  that  it  is  only  through 
faithful  obedience  that  Christians  are  free. 

While  there  is  no  liberty  to  do  or  not  to  do  what  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  requires ;  yet  within  these  requirements 
there  is  the  largest  freedom,  provided  there  is  a  real  ob¬ 
servance  of  the  same.  The  Spirit  prescribes  only  the 
broad  fundamentals,  from  which  the  details  of  law  and 
conduct  are  deduced ;  and  with  respect  to  these  details 
there  is  the  broadest  liberty  that  is  consistent  with  these 
fundamentals.  “  The  law  was  given  through  Moses ; 
grace  and  truth  came  through  Jesus  Christ.”  Any  detail 
of  Christian  work  and  worship  that  is  in  harmony  with, 
or  does  no  violence  to  the  fundamental  truth  through 
Christ  is  permissible;  and  Christian  unity  does  not  re¬ 
quire  uniformity  as  to  these  details.  A  failure  to  recog¬ 
nize  this  liberty  as  to  minor  details  has  often  disturbed 
and  divided  the  church  ;  whereas  a  reasonable,  sensible  ap¬ 
plication  of  this  principle  of  liberty  would  have  preserved 
unity. 

Furthermore,  there  are  many  other  things,  which  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  permits  on  the  grounds  of  expediency 
and  indifference,  which  constitute  another  legitimate 
realm  of  Christian  liberty.  See  Rom.  14  and  I  Cor.  8-10. 
Hall  L.  Calhoun,  of  Bethany  College,  has  written  so 
Scripturally  and  clearly  of  these  things  that  we  quote  at 
length  from  him,  as  follows: 


194 


CONCLUSION 


“  All  scriptural  things  are  divided  into  three  classes,  viz;: 
Necessary  things,  expedient  things,  and  indifferent  things. 
Necessary  things  are  things  right,  advantageous  and  commanded; 
expedient  things  are  things  right  and  advantageous,  but  not 
commanded;  indifferent  things  are  things  right,  but  neither  ad¬ 
vantageous  nor  commanded. 

I.  NECESSARY  THINGS 

'In  Acts  15  ‘.28  the  apostles,  elders,  and  brethren  at  Jerusalem 
said :  “  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Spirit  and  to  us  to  lay  upon 
you  no  greater  burden  than  these  necessary  things.”  This  shows, 
beyond  doubt,  that  there  are  some  things  which  the  Bible  recog¬ 
nizes  as  necessary.  These  things  must  be  done.  In  these  things 
the  Bible  speaks  and  we  must  be  silent.  The  Bible  speaks  by 
inspired  precept,  by  inspired  example,  and  by  necessary  infer¬ 
ence  from  inspired  precept  or  inspired  example.  In  Matt.  18:18 
Jesus  said  to  his  apostles:  “Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth 
shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.”  In  Matt.  17:5  God  said  of  Jesus  in 
the  presence  of  Moses,  the  lawgiver  of  Israel,  and  of  Elijah,  the 
representative  of  the  prophets:  “This  is  my  beloved  son;  hear 
ye  him.”  And  in  Acts  3:23  Peter  quotes  the  language  of  Moses 
referring  to  Jesus  as  a  prophet  and  says:  “Every  soul  that  will 
not  hear  that  prophet  shall  be  destroyed  from  among  the  people.” 
These  scriptures  and  others  equally  as  plain  make  it  evident  that 
whenever  God  enjoins  anything  upon  us  it  must  be  done,  and 
whatever  he  prohibits  must  not  be  done.  If  domestic  authori¬ 
ties  interfere,  we  must  obey  God,  for  Jesus  said,  “  He  that  loveth 
father  or  mother  more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me,  and  he  that 
loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me” 
(Matt.  10:37);  and  in  Luke  14:26  Jesus  says:  “If  any  man 
come  to  me  and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother  and  wife  and 
children  and  brethren  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also, 
he  cannot  be  my  disciple.”  In  John  14:21,  23,  Jesus  says,  “He 
that  hath  my  commandments  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that 
loveth  me;”  and,  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  words.” 
If  Jesus  be  the  Judge,  then,  no  man  loves  Jesus  who  refuses  to 
obey  him,  no  matter  who  interferes. .  If  civil  authorities  inter¬ 
fere  we  must  obey  God.  Like  Daniel  of  old  when  the  kings 
decree  conflicted  with  his  duty  to  God,  we  must  obey  God  regard¬ 
less  of  consequences.  (See  Dan.  6:1-28.)  Jesus  says  m  Matt. 
22-21  “Render  unto  Caesar  (the  civil  authority)  the  things 
which  are  Caesar’s,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God’s.” 


LIBERTY  AND  UNITY 


195 


If  religious  authority  interfere,  we  must  obey  God.  When 
the  highest  religious  authorities  among  the  Jews  had  commanded 
the  apostles  not  to  teach  in  Jesus’  name,  Peter  and  the  other 
apostles  answered :  “  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men.” 

(Acts  5:29.)  In  matters  of  necessity  God  speaks  and  we  must 
always  obey  him. 


II.  INDIFFERENT  THINGS 

In  1  Cor.  8:8  Paul,  speaking  of  meat,  said:  “For  neither  if 
we  eat  are  we  the  better,  neither  if  we  eat  not  are  we  the  worse.” 
A  thing  the  doing  of  which  makes  one  neither  better  nor  worse 
must  be  a  matter  of  indifference.  At  what  particular  hour  on 
the  Lord’s  day  shall  the  Lord’s  Supper  be  observed?  At  11 
a.  m.  or  at  8  p.  m.,  or  at  some  other  hour?  Certainly  it  may 
be  said  of  this  that  the  exact  hour  of  the  observance  of  the  Lord’s 
Supper  is  a  matter  of  indifference.  If  a  man  eat  it  at  11  a.  m., 
he  is  neither  better  nor  worse  than  if  he  ate  it  at  any  other  con¬ 
venient  hour  of  the  Lord’s  day. 

Likewise  the  position  of  the  body  in  prayer  must  be  a  matter 
of  indifference,  since  men  “  ought  always  to  pray  ”  and  to  “  pray 
without  ceasing.”  This,  of  course,  can  be  done  only  by  prayer 
being  acceptable  in  all  different  positions  of  the  body. 

Matters  of  indifference  are  matters  of  mere  personal  privilege, 
which  may  or  may  not  be  done  without  sin,  so  far  as  the  things 
themselves  are  concerned. 

This  class  of  things  is  as  clearly  recognized  and  defined  in  the 
Bible  as  necessary  things  are. 

Nothing  can  belong  to  this  class  of  things  which  is  either 
enjoined  or  prohibited  in  the  Scriptures.  If  it  is  enjoined  in  the 
Scriptures,  it  is  a  necessary  thing  and  must  be  done ;  if  it  is  pro¬ 
hibited  in  the  Scriptures,  it  is  a  sin  and  it  must  not  be  done. 
Whether  one  may  enjoy  his  personal  liberty  in  these  indifferent 
things  depends  upon  circumstances. 

In  1  Cor.  8:9  Paul  says  of  the  eating  of  the  meat:  “Take  heed 
lest  by  any  means  this  liberty  of  yours  become  a  stumbling-block 
to  them  that  are  weak.”  If  our  doing  these  indifferent  things 
would  lead  others  who  think  these  things  are  wrong  to  do  them 
then  we  must  refrain.  This  is  clearly  taught  in  1  Cor.  8:10-13' 
where  Paul  says:  lor  if  a  man  see  thee  who  hast  knowledge 
sitting  at  meat  in  an  idol’s  temple,  will  not  his  conscience,  if  he 
is  weak,  be  emboldened  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols?  For 
through  thy  knowledge  he  that  is  weak  perisheth,  the  brother  for 


196 


CONCLUSION 


whose  sake  Christ  died.  And  thus  sinning  against  the  brethren 
and  wounding  their  conscience  when  it  is  weak,  ye  sin  against 
Christ.  Wherefore  if  meat  causeth  my  brother  to  stumble,  I 
will  eat  no  flesh  for  evermore,  that  I  cause  not  my  brother  to 
stumble.” 

If  doing  these  things  would  grieve  or  offend  others,  we  must 
refrain.  See  Rom.  14:15,  16:  “For  if  because  of  meat  thy 
brother  is  grieved,  thou  walkest  no  longer  in  love.  Destroy  not 
with  thy  meat  him  for  whom  Christ  died.  Let  not  then  your 
good  be  evil  spoken  of.”  If  others  even  think  we  do  wrong  in 
doing  them,  we  must  refrain.  In  1  Cor.  10:27-29  this  is  made 
plain :  “  If  one  of  them  that  believe  not  biddeth  you  to  a  feast 
and  ye  are  disposed  to  go ;  whatsoever  is  set  before  you,  eat  ask¬ 
ing  no  question  for  conscience  sake.  But  if  any  man  say  unto 
you,  This  hath  been  offered  in  sacrifice,  eat  not,  for  his  sake 
that  showed  it  and  for  conscience  sake :  conscience  I  say,  not 
thine  own,  but  the  other’s.” 

In  things  indifferent  our  brother  speaks,  and  we  must  always 
yield  to  him.  Rom.  12:10,  “In  honour  preferring  one  another.” 
Rom.  15  :2,  “  Let  each  one  of  us  please  his  neighbor.”  It  is  to 
these  things,  mere  personal  privileges,  that  the  law  of  love  applies, 
and  the  violation  of  this  law  is  a  sin  as  certainly  as  is  the  viola¬ 
tion  of  any  other  law  that  God  has  given.  1  Cor.  8:12,  “And 
thus  sinning  against  the  brethren  and  wounding  their  conscience 
when  it  is  weak  ye  sin  against  Christ.”  And  in  1  Cor.  10:33  Paul 
lays  down  a  rule  to  govern  our  conduct  in  these  things,  saying, 
“  Even  as  I  please  all  men  in  all  things,  not  seeking  mine  own 
profit,  but  the  profit  of  the  many.”  In  necessary  things  Paul 
would  have  pleased  God  even  if  he  had  thereby  displeased  all 
men,  but  in  indifferent  things  he  always  yielded  to  others. 

III.  expedient  things 

In  1  Cor.  10:23  Paul  says:  “All  things  are  lawful  for  me, 
but  all  things  are  not  expedient.”  When  Paul  says  all  things 
are  lawful,  certainly  he  does  not  mean  to  include  sinful  things, 
for  “sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law.”  (1  John  3:4.)  He 
must  mean  that  all  right  things  are  lawful,  but  some  right  things 
are  not  expedient,  clearly  implying  that  there  are  other  right 
things  which  are  expedient. 

Expedient  things  are  things  advantageous.  Nothing  can  belong 
to  the  class  of  expedient  things  which  is  either  necessary  or  indif¬ 
ferent.  If  a  thing  is  necessary,  it  is  more  than  expedient;  and  if 
a  thing  is  indifferent,  it  is  less  than  expedient.  All  expedient 


LIBERTY  AND  UNITY 


197 


things  are  right — i.  e .,  scriptural  and  advantageous;  but  they  are 
not  commanded — i.  e.,  enjoined  or  prohibited.  In  Matt.  18:18 
Jesus  said:  “Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound 
in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed 
in  heaven.”  This  passage  shows  that  there  are  some  things  bound 
upon  us,  and  it  shows  just  as  clearly  that  some  other  things  are 
left  loose,  and  the  things  left  loose  are  just  as  right — i.  e.,  scrip¬ 
tural — as  the  things  bound.  Paul  recognized  this  principle  plainly, 
for  in  i  Cor.  7,  speaking  in  reference  to  Christians  not  marrying, 
he  says :  “  But  I  speak  this  by  permission  and  not  of  command¬ 
ment.”  Here  was  a  thing  clearly  right  in  and  of  itself  which  a 
man  might  do  or  not,  just  as  he  thought  expedient.  This  was 
not  a  matter  of  necessity,  neither  was  it  a  matter  of  indifference; 
it  was  a  question  of  expediency,  and  the  man  himself  must  decide 
as  to  its  expediency  or  inexpediency  in  his  own  case.  In  this 
class  of  things  human  judgment  must  always  decide  whether  any 
particular  thing  is  expedient  or  not. 

What  vocation  shall  a  young  man  choose  in  life?  There  is  no 
one  vocation  enjoined  upon  any  particular  person.  Each  one 
has  to  decide  this  question  for  himself.  Of  course  he  is  under 
obligation  to  choose  a  scriptural  vocation — that  is,  one  which  is 
right.  (But  just  which  one  the  Bible  will  never  tell  him.  Neither 
may  I  nor  any  other  human  being  say  him,  nay,  when  he  exer¬ 
cises  his  right  of  choice,  doing  what  he  thinks  is  expedient  for 
him. 

A  thing  expedient  at  one  time  might  be  inexpedient  or  even  a 
sin  at  another  time  and  under  different  circumstances — e.  g.,  in 
1  Cor.  16:1-7  is  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  churches 
of  Galatia  and  the  church  at  Corinth  were  to  send  their  bounty 
to  Jerusalem.  This  they  were  to  do  by  the  hands  of  special  men 
approved  by  them  for  this  purpose.  This  was  doubtless  the  most 
expedient  way  for  them  at  that  time  and  under  their  circum¬ 
stances.  But  when  the  people  of  Galveston,  Texas,  were  in  need 
of  help  a  few  years  ago,  if  the  Christian  people  of  the  United 
States  had  sent  aid  to  them  in  the  way  this  aid  was  sent  to  Jeru¬ 
salem,  it  not  only  would  not  have  been  expedient,  it  would  have 
been  a  sin;  for  some,  perhaps  many,  would  have  died  before  the 
aid  could  have  reached  them.  To  allow  our  fellow-beings  to  suf¬ 
fer  for  the  want  of  this  world’s  goods  when  we  could  prevent  it 
is  a  sin.  (1  John  3:17.)  And  had  we  left  those  hungry  people 
to  suffer  for  food  till  men  could  go  all  the  way  to  Galveston  and 
carry  personally  our  bounty  we  should  have  been  grossly  culp- 


198 


CONCLUSION 


able.  We  sent  our  aid  in  a  different  way  because  it  was  expedi¬ 
ent  to  do  so1.  We  sent  through  the  United  States  mail  and  by 
express  and  telegram.  This  was  more  quickly  and  economically 
done  because  we  have  better  facilities  for  sending  than  they  had 
in  Paul’s  day.  It  is  our  duty  to  use  these  more  expedient  means 
just  as  truly  as  it  is  our  duty  to  be  baptized.  One  is  the  obliga¬ 
tion  of  necessity,  and  the  other  is  the  obligation  of  expediency, 
and  both  these  obligations  are  scripturally  binding  upon  us.  In 
Gal.  6:10  Paul  says:  “As  we  have  therefore  opportunity  let  us 
do  good  unto  all  men.”  If  ten  men  were  to  fall  into  a  river  and 
a  brother  had  a  way  which  he  believed  to  be  God’s  way  of  saving 
men  from  drowning  and  he  felt  sure  that  any  other  way  of  try¬ 
ing  to  save  them  was  a  sin,  and  if  I  knew  a  way  which  I  believed 
to  be  right — i.  e.,  scriptural — and  by  which  I  felt  sure  I  could 
save  all  ten  of  the  men,  while  by  his  way  I  believed  we  could 
save  only  six  of  the  men,  if  I  used  his  way  and  let  four  men 
drown  whom  I  believed  I  could  have  saved  from  drowning,  I 
would  be  morally  responsible  for  the  death  of  those  four  men. 
It  not  only  would  not  be  a  violation  of  the  law  of  love  for  me 
to  use  the  way  which  I  believed  to  be  most  expedient',  but  it  would 
be  my  duty  to  do  so,  for  those  four  men  in  the  water  have  claims 
on  me  which  I  must  recognize. 

In  matters  of  expediency  I  speak,  and  no  other  man  may  hinder 
me.  The  law  of  love  does  not  and  cannot  apply  in  expedient 
things. 

Expedient  things  must  be  done,  and  to  fail  for  any  reason  to  do 
them  is  a  sin.  The  obligation  of  expediency  is  just  as  scriptural 
and  binding  as  the  obligation  of  necessity.  Each  operates  in  its 
own  field,  and  they  never  conflict.” 

It  is,  therefore,  evident  from  the  above  that  we  have 
no  liberty  as  to  things  necessary  except  the  liberties 
within  these  things ;  and  as  to  things  expedient  we  have 
no  liberty  except  the  liberty  of  deciding  and  doing  the 
expedient  things ;  so  then  things  indifferent  constitute  the 
only  broad  realm  of  Christian  liberty,  which,  though  theo¬ 
retically  broad,  is  practically  limited  by  the  welfare  of 
one’s  brother.  While  this  narrows  the  fields  of  Christian 
liberties  more  than  we  desire ;  yet  they  are  much  broader 
than  they  first  appear,  because  in  addition  to  the  liberties 


LIBERTY  AND  UNITY 


199 


of  things  indifferent  and  expedient  there  are  the  many 
great  liberties  that  come  to  us  through  compliance  to 
things  necessary,  which  constitute  Christian  truth  that 
makes  free.  “Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth 
shall  make  you  free and,  “  If  the  Son  shall  make  you 
free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed.”  Christian  loyalty  requires 
the  same  necessary  and  expedient  things  of  all,  and 
thereby  connects  and  harmonizes  liberty  and  unity ;  and 
Christian  charity  produces  unity  in  things  indifferent,  so 
then  with  this  understanding  and  application  of  the  prin¬ 
ciples  of  liberty  and  unity  there  need  be  no  conflict  be¬ 
tween  the  two,  and  Christian  liberty  should  be  no  barrier 
to  Christian  unity. 


XVII 


THE  OUTLOOK  FOR  CHRISTIAN  UNITY 


"g"  N  view  of  the  many  difficulties  and  barriers  yet  in  the 
way  of  Christian  unity,  no  one  except  a  blind  opti- 
u  mist  would  say  that  all  is  well  and  propitious  for  an 
early  realization  of  the  unity  for  which  Christ  prayed, 
and  Paul  worked;  yet  there  are  many  justifiable  reasons 
for  thinking  that  all  Christian  people  are  slowly  but 
surely  coming  together.  There  is  much  to  be  said  both 
pro  and  con  on  the  outlook  of  Christian  unity.  The  out¬ 
look  for  anything  is  determined  by  things  favourable  and 
things  unfavourable, — the  preponderance  of  the  one  over 
the  other ;  and  in  the  case  of  Christian  unity  there  is  suf¬ 
ficient  evidence  on  both  sides  to  justify  the  conclusions 
of  both  the  pessimist  and  optimist  according  to  the  view 
one  is  disposed  to  take.  However,  in  this  chapter  we 
hope  to  take  a  broad  survey  of  both  sides,  that  the  reader 
may  be  in  a  position  to  draw  his  own  conclusions.  To 
this  end  we  shall  consider  both  the  helps  and  hindrances 
to  Christian  unity. 

The  difficulties  and  barriers  in  the  way  of  unity  in¬ 
crease  and  enlarge  as  we  broaden  the  scope  of  Christian 
unity;  yet  we  dare  not  draw  narrower  boundaries  than 
Christ  Himself,  who  prayed  for  the  unity  of  all  His  dis¬ 
ciples.  Yet  to-day  there  are  so  many  kinds  and  shades 
of  disciples  of  Christ  that  the  task  of  uniting  all  of  them 
borders  on  the  impossible.  Nevertheless,  at  the  risk  and 
daring  of  undertaking  the  impossible,  all  Christian  people 

need  to  enlarge  their  horizon  and  vision  of  Christian 

200 


THE  OUTLOOK  FOR  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  201 


unity,  until  it  includes  every  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  We  need  to  do  as  the  Prime  Minister  of  Eng¬ 
land  advised  his  associates  in  government,  “  Gentlemen, 
you  must  study  larger  maps.”  This  must  be  done  by  all 
who  are  working  and  praying  for  unity.  Nothing  short 
of  the  unity  of  the  universal  church  of  Christ  must  be 
considered  in  our  ultimate  plans  for  Christian  unity ;  and 
anything  short  of  this  is  more  or  less  sectarian. 

In  fact,  the  sectarian  vision  and  conception  of  the 
church,  which  obtains  in  the  minds  of  people  to-day,  is  a 
serious  barrier  in  the  way  of  unity.  Sectarian  divisions 
are  so  old  and  powerful,  and  the  people  are  so  closely 
and  strongly  aligned  to  the  same,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
think  of  the  church  except  in  sectarian  units ;  but  we 
must  all  be  brought  to  see  the  one  universal  church  of 
Christ,  which  is  older  and  more  powerful  than  any  or 
all  the  denominations.  People  will  never  go  farther  than 
they  can  see,  so  we  need  to  look  beyond  the  sec¬ 
tarian  divisions  that  crowd  us  in  and  limit  us  on  all  sides 
to  the  broad  catholic  church  of  Christ  that  fills  and  en¬ 
compasses  the  earth. 

The  sectarian  viewpoint  and  vision  of  the  church  is 
only  one  of  the  many  barriers  that  sectarianism  has  put 
in  the  way  of  unity.  In  fact,  all  the  hindrances  have  their 
roots  in  sectarianism,  which  must  be  uprooted  before 
Christian  unity  can  come.  Out  of  sectarian  divisions 
have  come  our  religious  differences,  which  constitute  “  a 
wall  of  partition  ”  between  Christians,  that  must  be 
broken  down  and  removed  before  unity  can  come. 
Through  obedience  to  God  and  the  leadership  of  Joshua 
the  walls  of  Jericho  were  broken  down ;  but  far  greater 
and  stronger  are  these  walls  of  partition  that  divide  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  however,  Paul  assures  us  that  “  Christ  broke  them 
down  ”  between  Jews  and  Gentiles ;  and  He  can  do  tfie 


'202 


CONCLUSION 


same  for  us,  if  we  will  all  only  submit  ourselves  to  His 
leadership,  and  thereby  bring  all  together  in  His  world 
church. 

But  there  remains  a  greater  barrier  to  unity  than  our 
sectarian  differences,  namely,  our  sectarian  feelings. 
Religious  prejudice  has  a  stronger  hold  upon  people  than 
religious  conviction;  but  Paul  teaches  that  through  the 
power  and  influence  of  the  cross  even  this  can  be  re¬ 
moved  ;  and  it  is  a  noticeable  and  accepted  fact  that  bitter 
religious  feelings  are  softening  and  crumbling,  and  giv¬ 
ing  way  to  a  better  feeling  among  all  Christian  people, 
which  gives  promise  of  their  unity. 

Furthermore,  established  denominationalism,  with  all 
its  religious  organizations,  ecclesiastical  machinery  and 
church  property,  is  another  great  hindrance  to  Christian 
unity.  The  Master’s  question  to  Peter,  “  Lovest  thou 
me  more  than  these  ?  ”,  is  applicable  to  all  denominational- 
ists  to-day,  and  needs  to  be  thrice  or  more  repeated  to 
transfer  the  affections  of  the  people  from  the  denomina¬ 
tions  to  the  church,  the  one  body  of  Christ.  Denomina¬ 
tionalism,  with  all  things  appertaining,  is  the  price  of 
Christian  unity;  and  many  of  the  denominations  having 
great  possessions,  like  the  rich  young  ruler,  are  not  yet 
willing  to  pay  the  price.  Like  the  early  Christians  in 
Jerusalem,  all  denominations  must  come  together,  and 
have  all  things  in  common,  in  order  to  have  Christian 
unity. 

Denominational  pride  and  devotion  cause  opposition  or 
indifference  to  Christian  unity,  which  must  be  overcome. 
There  are  few  outspoken  opponents  of  Christian  unity  to¬ 
day,  but  many  that  are  indifferent  to  the  same.  They 
do  not  oppose  it,  but  they  will  do  nothing  to  help  it 
along.  They  will  allow  you  to  unite  the  religious  world, 
if  you  can,  while  they  are  at  ease  in  their  respective  de- 


THE  OUTLOOK  FOR  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  203 


nominations.  Such  an  attitude  toward  Christian  unity 
is  a  grat  hindrance,  because  only  those  that  greatly  desire 
to  unite  can  unite.  All  must  become  sufficiently  inter¬ 
ested  to  pray  and  work  for  unity  before  it  can  be  brought 
about. 

All  the  above  hindrances,  and  others  besides,  grow  out 
of  sectarianism  in  the  church,  which  must  be  uprooted 
before  we  can  have  Christian  unity.  Division  is  still 
firmly  established  and  deeply  entrenched  in  the  church; 
however,  there  are  many  indications  on  all  sides  that  it  is 
weakening  and  giving  way  to  a  broader  and  more  catho¬ 
lic  Christianity,  which  bespeaks  a  brighter  outlook  for 
Christian  unity;  and  to  any  one  disposed  to  look  upon 
the  bright  side  of  things  there  are  many  justifying  rea¬ 
sons  for  optimism  on  the  subject,  which  we  shall  now 
consider. 

Turning  from  the  dark  side  of  the  outlook  for  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  to  things  that  favor  the  same,  we  mention, 
first,  the  righteousness  of  the  cause.  It  is  right  from 
every  viewpoint  and  standard  of  righteousness ;  and  to 
all  that  believe  in  the  final  triumph  of  the  right  it  must 
surely  come;  but  only  by  active  work  in  behalf  of  this 
cause  on  the  part  of  all  believers  can  we  hasten  this  glad 
day. 

Furthermore,  there  is  to-day  a  very  broad,  if  not  a  uni¬ 
versal,  desire  for  Christian  unity,  which  is  very  encourag¬ 
ing  and  helpful.  Only  those  that  desire  to  unite  can 
unite ;  and  this  desire  must  be  sufficiently  strong  to  over¬ 
come  many  difficulties  in  the  way.  There  are  few  apolo¬ 
gists  to-day  for  division,  while  on  the  other  hand  there 
are  many  eloquent  tongues  and  pens  in  every  communion 
pleading  for  unity ;  and  the  desire  for  the  same  is  spread¬ 
ing  and  growing  rapidly,  which  is  a  promising  hope  for 
Christian  unity. 


204 


CONCLUSION 


But  the  greatest  help  and  surest  hope  of  unity  is  Paul’s 
letter  to  the  Ephesians,  which  we  have  shown  to  be  a 
complete  solution  of  the  tangled  problem.  Without  a 
voice  of  reason  and  authority  to  lead  us  out  of  the  con¬ 
fusion  and  wilderness  of  division  we  will  wander  on  in 
our  separate  ways  toward  the  promised  land  and  the  city 
of  our  God, — possibly  to  land  in  a  religious  Babylon ;  but 
Paul,  through  this  letter,  has  opened  up  the  way  out  of 
division  into  the  unity  of  the  “  one  body,  the  church  of 
Christ,”  so  all  who  will  may  know  the  way  out,  and 
come  to  “  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God.”  The  author  of  this  book  has  striven 
in  his  study  of  this  letter  to  make  this  way  known;  and, 
if  any  comment  upon  the  same  has  tended  to  obscure  this 
way,  or  has  been  beside  the  mark,  let  that  be  forgotten; 
and  let  the  reader  place  his  own  interpretation  upon  what 
Paul  has  written  in  this  letter  on  Christian  unity,  and 
with  any  rational  interpretation  of  Paul’s  teaching  the 
result  will  be  the  same,  namely,  the  unity  of  the  church. 

However,  Paul’s  teaching  on  the  subject  of  unity  can 
not  unite  the  church,  unless  it  is  accepted  and  followed, 
and  there  is  an  earnest  effort  on  the  part  of  the  divided 
church  to  realize  this  unity.  Such  an  effort  is  being  made 
to-day  in  almost  every  church,  which  is  a  hopeful  sign 
of  ultimate  unity.  It  is  true  that  we  are  working  at  the 
problem  from  many  different  viewpoints  and  ways  that 
seem  at  times  to  lead  us  apart  instead  of  together ;  but  it 
is  encouraging  to  know  that  we  are  all  aiming  at  the 
same  end,  the  unity  of  the  church.  There  are  yet  many 
“  valleys  to  be  exalted,  mountains  and  hills  to  be  made 
low,  the  uneven  and  rough  places  to  be  made  plane,”  be¬ 
fore  the  highway  to  Christian  unity  is  prepared,  “  when 
the  glory  of  Jehovah  shall  be  revealed;”  but  it  is  very 
heartening  to  know  that  many  strong  men  in  every  com-y 


THE  OUTLOOK  FOR  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  205 


munion  are  working  at  these  tasks.  Never  before  in  the 
history  of  the  church  has  there  been  a  greater  and  more 
earnest  effort  to  find  and  prepare  the  way  to  unity. 
Almost  every  communion  has  some  kind  of  an  organiza¬ 
tion  looking  toward  unity,  such  as  the  Episcopalian  Con¬ 
ference  On  Faith  and  Order,  the  Presbyterian  Council  On 
Organic  Union,  the  Christian  Association  For  The  Pro¬ 
motion  Of  Christian  Unity,  etc. ;  and  there  also  are  many 
interdenominational  organizations  at  work  for  Christian 
unity,  as  follows:  Association  For  The  Promotion  Of 
The  Unity  Of  Christendom ;  Christian  Unity  Association 
Of  Scotland;  Christian  Unity  Foundation;  Churchman’s 
Union;  Commission  On  The  World  Conference  On  Faith 
And  Order;  Council  On  Organic  Union;  Federal  Coun¬ 
cil  Of  The  Churches  Of  Christ  In  America ;  Free  Church 
Fellowship ;  Universal  Conference  Of  The  Church  Of 
Christ  On  Life  And  Work;  National  Council  Of  The 
Evangelical  Free  Churches  Of  England;  etc. 

Another  advanced  step  toward  unity  is  conference  in¬ 
stead  of  controversy.  Conferences  are  succeeding  con¬ 
troversies  as  a  means  of  unity.  Controversy  has  been 
tried  out  in  the  past,  and  it  has  been  found  to  propagate 
division  rather  than  to  promote  unity.  But  to-day  Chris¬ 
tian  people  are  coming  together  to  confer  more  than  to 
discuss,  to  harmonize  and  not  to  antagonize.  We  have 
found  out  that  we  can  not  argue  people  into  unity;  but 
we  can  come  together  on  the  common  plain  of  Christian 
brotherhood,  and  confer  with  each  other  on  the  subject, 
which  is  a  better  way  to  secure  unity.  The  recent  World 
Conference  On  Faith  And  Order  at  Geneva,  Switzerland, 
is  an  example  of  such  a  conference ;  and  many  more  are 
to  follow. 

Furthermore,  in  these  conferences  there  is  more  relig¬ 
ious  tolerance  and  less  sectarian  dogmatism  than  in  the 


206 


CONCLUSION 


discussions  of  the  past.  On  all  unsettled  questions,  such 
as  the  Priesthood,  the  ordinances  and  the  government  of 
the  church,  there  is  more  liberality  manifested  to-day  than 
yesterday.  We  are  more  willing  to  consider  the  position 
and  viewpoint  of  the  other  man  and  to  concede  truth 
wherever  found.  This  does  not  mean  a  weakening  of 
convictions,  but  the  opening  of  the  doors  for  an  exchange 
of  views  and  the  adjustment  of  our  differences.  In  our 
separate  pursuit  of  truth  we  will  never  come  together. 
Truth  must  be  sought  corporately  and  collectively  to 
arrive  at  any  unity  of  faith  and  knowledge ;  and  we  must 
be  willing  always  to  concede  the  sincerity  and  truth  of 
the  other  man,  which  is  essential  to  all  amicable  fellow¬ 
ship.  This  makes  it  possible  to  discover  our  own  errors, 
which  are  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  remove.  The  closer 
we  come  together  and  the  more  immediate  the-  contact  the 
better  we  understand  each  other,  and  the  nearer  we  are 
drawn  together.  Whenever  we  are  brought  close  to¬ 
gether,  the  religious  atmosphere  clears ;  but,  when  we 
stand  far  apart,  each  appears  to  be  wrapped  in  a  cloud 
of  error  like  travelers  in  foggy  weather.  What  we  need, 
therefore,  is  a  closer  touch  and  a  more  immediate  con¬ 
tact  with  each  other  in  our  efforts  to  bring  about  Chris¬ 
tian  unity. 

All  things  considered,  both  pro  and  con,  the  outlook  for 
Christian  unity  is  brighter  to-day  than  yesterday;  yet 
there  remains  much  to  be  done  to  reunite  the  church.  As 
a  practical  way  of  brightening  the  outlook  and  hastening 
the  consummation  of  Christian  unity,  the  following  is 
quoted  from  Dr.  Peter  Ainslie,  President  of  the  Asso¬ 
ciation  For  The  Promotion  of  Christian  Unity,  and 
heartily  commended  to  the  reader : 

“  There  are  seven  things  which  every  Christian  can 


THE  OUTLOOK  FOR  CHRISTIAN  UNITY  207 


do  and  ought  to  do  to  brighten  the  outlook  for  Chris¬ 
tian  unity  and  hasten  its  consummation.  These  are : 

(1)  Praying ,  earnest  praying  in  public  and  in  pri¬ 
vate,  remembering  that  in  the  high-priestly  prayer  of 
Jesus  He  says,  “  Holy  Father  *  *  *  I  pray  *  *  * 
that  they  may  all  be  one.” 

(2)  Thinking ,  definite  thinking  in  terms  of  the 
brotherhood  of  all  Christians,  remembering  that  Jesus 
says,  “  One  is  your  teacher,  and  all  ye  are  brethren.” 

(3)  Speaking,  kindly  speaking  of  those  Christians 
in  other  communions  than  your  own  with  a  real  inter¬ 
est  in  their  welfare,  remembering  that  the  Apostle  Paul 
says,  “  Not  looking  each  of  you  to  his  own  things,  but 
each  of  you  also  to  the  things  of  others.” 

(4)  Conferring,  frankly  conferring  with  those  of 
other  communions  whenever  it  is  possible,  always  in 
the  spirit  of  courteous  friendship,  and  avoiding  the 
dangers  attending  controversial  methods,  which  belong 
under  the  admonition  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  when  he 
says,  “  Shun  foolish  questionings,  and  genealogies,  and 
strifes,  and  fightings  about  the  law ;  for  they  are  un¬ 
profitable  and  vain.  A  factious  man  after  a  first  and 
second  admonition  refuse ;  knowing  that  such  a  one 
is  perverted,  and  sinneth,  being  self-condemned.” 

(5)  Teaching ,  patiently  teaching  the  principles  of 
Christian  brotherhood  and  the  unity  of  the  church 
*  *  *,  wherever  there  is  the  opportunity  *  *  *, 
remembering  that  Christ  says,  “  The  Holy  Spirit,  whom 
the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  He  will  teach  you 
all  things,  and  bring  to  your  remembrance  all  that  I 
said  unto  you.” 

(6)  Working ,  heartily  working  together,  especially 
those  communions  of  nearest  kinship,  entering  into 
definite  negotiations  toward  their  formal  rapproche - 


208 


CONCLUSION 


ment  and  ultimate  union,  remembering  that  the  Apostle 
says,  “  We  are  God’s  fellow-workers ;  ye  are  God’s  hus¬ 
bandry,  God’s  building.” 

(7)  Believing,  sincerely  believing  that  the  prayer 
and  purpose  of  Jesus  will  find  their  fulfillment  in  a 
united  Christendom  and  indeed  they  are  being  ful¬ 
filled  now,  remembering  that  Jesus  says,  “  All  things 
whatsoever  ye  pray  and  ask  for,  believe  that  ye  re¬ 
ceive  them,  and  ye  shall  have  them.” 

With  the  whole  church  thus  aroused  and  at  work  for 
Christian  unity,  it  will  surely  come.  If  the  signs  of 
Christian  unity  on  the  religious  horizon  of  the  future  are 
to  be  believed,  the  unity  for  which  Christ  prayed  and 
Paul  worked  is  slowly  but  surely  coming.  This  is  not  a 
passing  dream  of  the  dark,  closing  night,  but  a  sure 
promise  of  the  red  opening  dawn,  “  when  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  shall  be  revealed  ”  in  the  reunited  church  of  His 
dear  Son,  and  all  shall  work  and  worship  God  together 
in  the  beauty  of  holiness.  To  help  and  hasten  this  glad 
day  this  book  is  written  and  sent  forth  on  its  mission  of 
unity,  with  prayers  for  the  unity  of  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ. 


Printed  in  United  States  of  America 


BS2695 .C874 

Saint  Paul  on  Christian  unity,  an 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1  1012  00013  9727 


DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD 


#3523PI  Printed  in  USA 


